Mindconnection eNL, 2021-03-21

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1. The legislators of Idaho have decided that school children deserve as much protection as Nancy Pelosi gets, rather than being "fish in a barrel". Read the full story here: https://www.theepochtimes.com/idaho-house-approves-bill-letting-some-staff-carry-guns-at-school_3731992.html
    
2. The socialist takeover of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches is arguably the greatest tragedy to befall this nation. With it comes Cancel Culture and other forms of bullying. But take heart, there are 50 states and most of them are free states (free states are ones that, unlike the People's Republic of California, still have the Rule of Law and the protection of civil liberties). In the fake election that gave us our sham President, Donald Trump officially had 74 million supporters. But Trump supporters are not the only people who want America to be a healthy republic. The vast majority of Americans reject the radical socialism, and as these whackos go deeper down the rabbit hole the more they alienate the people they seek to subjugate. Stay alert for opportunities to do your part.
    
3. Increasingly, freedom-robbed Americans are understanding that while we are denied the power of voting in elections due to massive fraud, we are not denied the power of voting with our dollars. Look for non-socialist alternatives to socialism-spewing organizations. AMAC instead of AARP, for example. Use Duck Duck Go instead of Google for search. Drop your Facebook account, it was never good for you anyhow. Do you use cartridge razors? All of the cartridge razor companies gave massive donations to violent socialist groups last year, which is why I switched to double-edged safety razors last year (ones not sold by Gillette, Dollar Shave Club, Harry's, etc.). Take time to look at your purchases. I mean of everything. If you bought from a socialism-backing company, find a replacement that respects your liberties instead. This is how we will take back America. Each time one of these enemies of liberty shrivels up due to their victims refusing to buy from them, that will be good news.
    
4. The socialist city of Portland reports a 2,000% increase in homicide since defunding the police. While this is not good news for the victims, this example may serve as a potent weapon for us defenders in the War Against America. The libtards, Antifa, Black Lives (don't) Matter, and other lying SOBs with delusions of adequate intelligence have a big weakness in their propaganda. Namely, it gets people killed. In this particular case, both President Harris and Chancellor Pelosi are in a tough spot because if they must choose between publicly supporting the increased death toll or publicly supporting the police. Chancellor Pelosi many times spewed the drummed up Covid numbers as "evidence" that President Trump was harming America. It will be interesting to see what spin The Evil One puts on the death toll from accommodations made to her own radical base.
    
5. The Executive Branch and Legislative Branch are owned by the socialists thanks to their excellence at election fraud. There's no explanation for the Chief (in)Justice, the man who disgraces the black robe by wearing it, John Roberts. So one might think with all three branches corrupted there is no rule of law in the USA. The good news is there are still the lower courts and there are plenty of sane judges. Also, President Trump appointed dozens of federal judges. So we sane people can still have small victories. For example, Mad Maxine (Waters) recently suffered a defeat in court. She and other bullies have led the way for socialists to engage in attacking sane people with slander, libel, and other forms of reputation damage. It's part of "Cancel Culture". Mad Maxine tried to get a judge to dismiss a defamation suit brought by Joe Collins, one of her many victims. The judge refused to dismiss, and it's going to trial. This is good news. Let us hope it's the front edge of a wave that is going to wash over the socialist regime and cleanse it from our nation permanently. That would be very good news for every decent American citizen and probably for all of Western civilization.
    
6. It has been noted that if you turn the barbed-wire around on Nancy's wall to face the other direction, you will solve 99% of the problems this nation has. Such a simple solution! The catch is it has to be done while the criminals are "in session". As a bonus, you save on the cost of trials and then transportation to Ft Leavenworth. A wall around this cesspool in the District of Corruption has long been needed and now we have one. They just need to turn the barbed wire so it's facing the right way.

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No, I am talking about arguments in which people want to hammer their position into the other person--usually without facts or logic. These kinds of arguments are draining, and the emotional energy is negative. People who have nothing to add or don't know what they are talking about like to start these kinds of arguments. It's a maladaptive behavior pattern in response to feeling inadequate. It's not based on reality, and the irrationality is usually obvious. If you get pulled into one of these, you are likely to experience an emotion-triggered IQ drop of 30 or more points and it could last for hours. I believe this is one reason we have libtards; in their circles there's a lot of bullying so they get successive IQ drops in too short a time and this drives that IQ number into the negative range. The negative energy from libtards, if you haven't noticed, is orders of magnitude greater than the positive energy that normal people put out at baseline.

My friend Howard Jacks (RIP) used to say, "You can't reason with irrationality." When a normal encounters a libtard or other irrational, you're at a decision point. Do you treat this person like a normal person and attempt to have an intelligent discussion? No, that will only frustrate you. And that frustration will lower your IQ for a while.

Now, I am not suggesting you live in an echo chamber and avoid people who disagree with you. I am suggesting you don't get dragged into a mind-numbing argument with an irrational person. Right now, irrational people seem to have the public megaphone; they inflict "cancel culture" and other means of silencing normals.

Back in my heyday of martial arts, I met another martial artist whose primary strategy was deflection. Not blocking, but deflection. He would move into the opponent and use both arms to deflect his opponent's arms to one side. I taught this technique to my students a few years later, and one of them took second place in the Dallas Citywide Open Style Tournament. He had studied with me only six months, no previous martial arts training. That's how powerful deflection is.

The same strategy used verbally can keep you from being dragged into an argument with an irrational. Develop a few deflection sentences and use them. Examples:

• I'm glad you brought that up. But before I can discuss it, I will need to study the subject more. So I can't talk about it right now. I hope you understand.
• I see your point. That does sound good. I can also see you have not yet thought out where the money will come from to pay for that. Could you please study that aspect and get back to me in a couple of months?
• You are obviously very passionate about this. I have found that passion is usually a substitute for reason. Let's table this and discuss something else.

If the person persists, you may have to be less equivocal. Or even brutally honest. I have said things like this (maybe you won't want to use these):

• What I am hearing from you is a cry for help. You are severely brainwashed and it really bothers you. What will help you is to stop repeating the nonsense that's been drilled into you. Do you think you could do that?
• Would you like me to recommend some books on the subject so you can learn the basic facts about it, or shall we move on to a different subject?
• Let me be clear. You are not equipped to debate this with me. Your entire premise is based on ignorance and your approach is based on deceit. Shall I go on, or do you get the point?
• Clearly, there is a vast gulf between us in knowledge, intellect, and integrity. Which of these three would you like me to help you improve?
• Stop talking to me. [or, alternatively, Stop e-mailing me].
• You are obviously looking for someone who likes to waste time with stupid arguments. I am not that person. Find someone else.

I think that silently enduring libtard spewings is a bad practice. Sure, if it's your boss or a customer or someone else who can inflict retribution for the "crime" of not agreeing with them you may just have to put up with it. But generally, you need to fight back. The libtards are aggressively attacking every aspect of our culture and meeting scant resistance. When we good people do nothing, then evil will flourish. Just as it is flourishing now.

You can use deflection to let them know you aren't buying what they are selling while also letting them know you aren't going to let them drag you into an irrational argument. You have a brain to protect, theirs is already too far gone to save. So deflect rather than engage in toe-to-toe punch-trading.

It's not something you can stop, but you can offset its effects through sharp financial management. For example, if you plan on moving from your current home then downsize 25%. This seems like a huge drop, but most people who go this route actually have more space once they rid themselves of the junk they have accumulated. Give it away if you are too busy to sell it, or offer it on various online platforms such as eBay, Craigslist, and NextDoor. If you can do the latter, this is "found money" and what's great about it is you don't owe any income tax on the proceeds of merely selling your personal possessions. If you have an online business, you will need to set up personal accounts or this will be taxable business revenue.

Mutual funds are another place for "found money" for many in the middle class. Look at the five year performance of any funds you have. Close the lowest performing one and move the proceeds into one or two of the others.

If you own bonds or bond funds, liquidate them entirely. Bonds do not generate wealth, they are "loan" rather than "own" types of "investments". Bonds guarantee your principle will lose value over time (which is why I put "investments" in quotes). During inflationary times, and we are in an accelerating inflationary situation right now, the loss from bonds can be huge. Some financial advisors recommend having most of your assets in bonds if you are retired, and this is really stupid advice (think about it). Others advise having some of your portfolio in bonds to "protect" you from the market. This is also stupid advice, especially right now.

You may read in financial magazines or newsletters how stock mutual funds are a rip-off because of the management fees and you should just buy individual stocks. This is also stupid advice. To get any traction with individual stocks and to have enough diversification to protect your nest egg, you are generally starting at close to one million dollars. And you will need to devote considerable time to researching and picking good companies. Unless you have the time and money to play with individual stocks, mutual funds with a good five-year and ten-year record are the way to go.

Once you start looking for "found money" you will find plenty of it. How many subscriptions do you have? If you have a newspaper subscription, cancel it (the paper is full of propaganda and you are far better off without it--exception, The Epoch Times). Look at your magazine subscriptions. Are you really excited about each issue, or is it a chore to go through it? Does the magazine have any real value? What about cable, phone, and other subscriptions, what can you cut?

You can save hugely on vet bills, if you are presently feeding your cat or dog "foods" based on corn or wheat. If you have those, throw them in the garbage and replace them with foods suitable for cats and dogs. Similarly, you can save hugely on prescriptions, missed work, over the counter remedies, and medical bills by eating food suitable for humans (this does not include wheat, corn, soy, or various processed sugars).

What about clothing? If you can fix small problems like a torn hem or missing button, you can avoid replacing that item for perhaps years.

One place where people really waste money is on paper towels. These do have their uses, but if you are buying more than one roll per quarter for a family of four you are probably using them to do jobs better suited for rewashable cloth rags. What, you don't have any cloth rags? Look in your drawers or closets for a couple of T-shirts you don't wear. Cut them up into strips and cut the strips into cloth rags. Or failing that, you can buy rags or even new cloth "wipers". If you are eating off paper plates regularly, there's another place you can find money.

Having observed other people for six decades, I am pretty sure the typical household can gain at least $4,000 per year in "found money". Even more if you downsize, because maintenance, utilities, property taxes, and other expenses are also downsized.

While doing all this, don't forget to strengthen your income side. One way is to reduce vulnerability if you hold a job or own a business. If you hold a job, make sure you are fully engaged. Your bosses will notice this, because you will stand out among the other employees. If you own a business, make sure it's not the case that the business is running you.

The "cancel culture" morons are more of a threat than the armed insurrectionists. Here is why. The armed insurrectionists got by with murder and mayhem in cities run by socialist mayors. They did not even attempt their murder and mayhem in cities where the mayors have measurable IQs. But the "cancel culture" morons are not limited by geography. And they do not quit. It's almost as if they were trained by the world's most feared terrorist organization (which, for those who do not know, is the IRS). They use the same tactics of social isolation (going after the victim's family and friends), financial devastation (causing you to lose your job and then be unhireable elsewhere), character assassination, overwhelming libel and slander attacks, and various tactics that show zero human compassion.

Right now, we live in a time when our basic human rights are unprotected by the federal, state, and local governments. Any gang of libtards can attack a person and get away with it. So in this case, an ounce of prevention is worth a megaton of cure.

Now is not the time to engage in a frontal assault with these crazies. You have to fight them with finesse, or they will destroy you. Some people advise to keep a low profile and wait this thing out. That advice is what led to the extermination of 6 million Jews. Instead, we must stand firm. But that does not mean we should antagonize these crazies. Instead, you deflect.

When a crazy person starts on you about "reparations" or white privilege or some other racist crap, you might feel like letting them know just how insane that is. This just makes them even more hysterical.

Examples:

• Crazy: You need to deny your white privilege.
• You: I grew up poor and worked my way through college. I wore hand me downs as a kid. So are you saying I was privileged to be poor and wear hand me downs? Or are you saying you decided I am white but my parents are not?

• Crazy: We should pay reparations to the descendants of slaves.
• You (if "white"): My ancestors did not arrive in the USA until decades after slavery was abolished. So do I get reparations too? (this also works if you are "black").
• You (if "black"): That's already been done through countless failed programs. I haven't let this issue define me or limit me, I am happy with my success. Are you saying you can have no accomplishments or success on your own?
• You (if "Asian"): I guess I don't fit on your color chart. Can you explain to me why that is?
   
• Crazy: We should let illegal immigrants vote, because that is good for democracy.
• You: OK, I am visualizing a group of 10 white men and 1 black man about to vote on whether to lynch the black man. That is democracy. Are you saying democracy is good?
   
• Crazy: Socialism is good, capitalism is bad.
• You: The NAZIs were socialists, that's what the Z in the acronym stands for. Then there was Pol Pot, the great famine in China thanks to Mao's socialist policies, and another in the USSR thanks their socialist policies. In fact, not a single country has benefitted from socialism. In the Nordic countries, they are reversing socialism now after seeing how it has eroded their work ethic and damaged their society. Now, help me to understand how capitalism is worse than these examples.

What you've done in these examples is totally redefine the debate. You have given the crazy person no real pushback, you've pushed the crazy person sideways. BTW, this tactic works great in physical combat; a student of mine used the sideways push to take second place in the Dallas Citywide Open Style Martial Arts Tournament after studying with me for only 6 months. Direct attacks create a direct response. So use a flanking move, which in a war of words means moving the argument away from the script the moron is spewing from.

The photos tell you something important about my credibility.

Statistics on 60th birthday, when these photos were taken:

• Height: 6'0"

• Wingspan: 6'1"

• Weight: 148lbs

• Bodyfat: Unknown, but well below what the Tanita scale says is 5%.

• Waist: 29

• Chest: 48

• Arms: 15

• Quads: 20

• Max bench press: Unknown, but I do three sets of 12 reps with 150 lbs to warm up on chest day

• Training days per week: 6

• Type of training: Split routine, heavy on supersets

• Meals per day: 7 on training days, 6 on rest day

• Percent of diet that is processed food: 0

• Amount of meat, wheat, corn, or soy eaten annually: 0

• Number of eggs eaten per day: Between 8 and 10

• Cholesterol: In normal range, on low side

• Last illness: 1971

• Last workout missed: Spring of 1977

When these "decades of neglect" men turn 75, they are usually using a cane or even a walker. They have usually lost their independence, so they are using that cane or walker in a nursing home. Many women my age also have profound atrophy of their leg muscles and are on that same path to misery.

This does not have to be. Men can prevent themselves from having "pancake butt" and "bird legs" in middle age. Women can prevent themselves from having "saggy butt" and "thunder thighs" in middle age. Both can have strong legs, and thus keep their independence even late into old age.

Many people believe that a daily walk is all they need to protect themselves from progressive weakness of the legs. Walking does not provide that protection. Only the adaptive response does, and only when it is stimulated in all of the muscles of the legs, back, and abdomen. Why not just the legs? Because the legs do not function in isolation. Weak abs or a weak back will also cost you your mobility.

The chain of power

• Abs. Don't do sit-ups; these work the hip flexors. Crunches, leg raises, hanging leg raises, and many other exercises for the core can help you develop powerful abdominals. Go online to see what these are, and design your own ab workout. Here is one good source: https://athleanx.com/
• Back. In looking at my picture at right, the first thing people notice is the definition. But look at the edges of those lat muscles and you see thick slabs of muscle. I do exercises that target the lats in different ways. For example, I do four sets of each of three different kinds of pulldowns. And that's just with the pulldown bar--there's more. Again, go online and see what the exercises are.
• Glutes. I do several exercises to specifically target these. Plus I climb (really hard on the glutes), plus I practice side kicks in slow motion 2 or 3 times per week.
• Hamstrings. Most men neglect these. As a martial artist, I need these to be strong not just for balance but also for hook kicks and such. As a climber, I do heel hooks and those use the hams. In addition to doing squats, I specifically target the hamstrings with hamstring curls. There are other exercises you can do with or without equipment, but you have got to work those hamstrings hard.
• Quads. Even for gym rats, this is often the only leg part that gets serious training. Even then, it's usually 3 sets of a leg press exercise or a 3 sets of poorly done back squats. I do multiple exercises to hit these; see if you can pick them out from the ones listed below.

My training

Here is my "leg day" program (where there is a / between two exercises it means a set of the second one immediately follows a set of the first one without rest):

• Front squats. 4 sets.
• Hamstring curls / Leg extensions. 4 sets of 12.
• Adductor floor exercise / Abductor floor exercise. 4 sets of 12.
• Bench pistols. 4 sets.
• Step-ups for butt. 3 sets.
• Sissy squats / Reverse leg raise butt-ups. 4 sets.
• Pelvic thrusts with butt squeeze/ Deep squats. 3 sets.

Calves. All of the preceding work I do every other Monday. I alternate Mondays with work on my calves (plus bench pistols). I use a calf machine and load my calves with 330 lbs. I can't do 12 reps with this, but you have to overload calves to stimulate growth so heavy weight is key. I might do 8 to 10 sets, the last few with only 3 or 4 reps. I follow this with standing calf raises that have my toes on the beam of my Roman chair; it's two inches thick. The movement is heel to the floor then full extension of the foot to maximize contraction of the calf. I alternate these with a glute exercise, typically unweighted reverse leg curls (these also hit the hamstring).

Walker?

Will I avoid the walker at age 75? You can safely bet on that. I will still be climbing, a sport that is very demanding physically. Here's a video from a couple of years ago, showing a heel hook: https://youtu.be/w7DndKlxry0.

I will still be gardening, raking by hand, squatting to pull weeds by hand, shoveling, mowing, and doing all those other chores that my strong legs will let me do (and get stronger because I do them). And running up and down the stairs in my home. If you do not already have a system or program in place for preventing progressive weakness of the legs, make a point of developing one now.

Weights are only one way

While my recommendations are based on training with weights, that's not the only way. My aunt is 85 and quite mobile. She built those legs hiking steep hills and climbing up and down the stairs in her home. My sister won't have anything to do with weight training, but she makes a point of hitting the stairs with the specific intention of challenging her legs. Neither her solution nor our aunt's is what I would consider to be ideal, but it's hard to ignore the fact our aunt is 85 and still mobile.

Then there was my neighbor who gave up skiing at age 87; that was a mistake because only 16 years later she died.

My program may inspire some readers who are not already preventing progressive leg weakness. If so, that's great. But if it seems like too much commitment, you can do like my aunt or my sister. Find something that makes your legs burn and do it on a regular basis. That burning sensation is a sign you're triggering the adaptive response. If you can stay mobile until 103 like my neighbor, that would be wonderful. She never needed a walker, and this was not due to luck.

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

If you have to lie to support your position, you have made the ultimate argument against it. (Nancy Pelosi, please take note).