Mindconnection eNL, 2022-02-06

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

General

An attempt to scam a 73 year old grandma failed. She tricked those crooks and the police nabbed them. Read the full story here:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/phone-scammers-call-73-year-old-grandma-asking-for-8000-but-she-turns-tables-catches-the-crooks_4239545.html

Energy

1. Fusion (like what occurs in the sun, not fission which is what occurs in nuclear power plants) would answer our energy problems, at least for non-mobile needs. But creating a fusion reactor is like creating a small star (high temperatures and high pressures). It's been an elusive goal for decades, even with the ITER project in full swing (and backed by billions of dollars from many countries). Many smaller players have joined this effort. One of them, Zap, has made a break-through. Read the full story here: https://read.nxtbook.com/ieee/spectrum/spectrum_na_january_2022/a_pinch_of_fusion.html
    
2. With the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, our nation was put on the alert about automobile fuel economy. Yet, the EPA fuel economy numbers have barely changed since then. People still drive gas hogs, which means a large percentage of the population is effectively paying double for gasoline. There is a more sane way. For example, the 2022 Toyota Camry Hybrid is an impressive mid-size sedan. Consumer Reports ranks it at the top of its size class, and 19 of the recommended models in this year's report are Toyotas (more than any other manufacturer). That car gets 51MPG in the city and 53MPG on the highway. And at net 208HP, it's peppier than many other cars on the road. I'm not saying everyone should own a Camry Hybrid. I am just using that as a great example of alternatives to the fuel-wasting vehicles that are so popular.
    
3. Beware of ultra-high MPG cars. The Toyota Camry Hybrid comes in 5 variations. See: https://www.toyota.com/configurator/build/step/model/year/2022/series/camryhybrid/. If you notice, the LE gets 51/53 MPG and the other versions get 44/47. What gives?

   The engines are the same and weight differences are trivial. The answer is in the tires. To get that extra 6MPG at the top end, they use a very hard tire (low rolling resistance). The LE has a longer stopping time than the other models, for this reason. This tire is poor all-round, except for the fact it gives you a mileage boost. It's not worth that boost. Not only is the stopping distance worse, the ride is worse, the noise is worse, and the handling is worse. As soon as you replace those hard tires with decent tires, you're back down to 44/47 MPG. So get decent tires at the outset and skip the tire change.

   Getting "only" 44/47 is still a huge step up for most people. I might pay the extra 5K to get the top model or I might go with the Avalon. The Avalon Hybrid gets 43/44. The issue there is it costs $37K. But it is an Avalon, the #1 rated car in America per Consumer Reports.
   
   One of them gets 51/53 MPG, the others would get the same if they were fitted with lousy "low rolling resistance" tires. If you're getting 40MPG in this age of gas hog ubiquity, you have done your share. Sacrificing safety or comfort to go beyond that is just not a sacrifice you need to make.

The virus phobia scam

1. Israel has one of highest rates of the dangerous immunity reduction jab (aka, "Covid vaccine") and boosters of any place in the world. So it's no surprise that they recently set a new Covid-19 case record. Read the full story here: https://www.theepochtimes.com/israel-one-of-most-vaccinated-countries-in-the-world-sets-new-covid-19-case-record_4229781.html.

   Remember, an antibiotic acts directly on the pathogen to kill it. But a vaccine stimulates the human body to produce the antigens that destroy the virus. This principle was behind the Salk vaccine for polio; introducing a weakened virus stimulated the body to produce an arsenal for attacking and destroying the normal virus. The "dangerous immunity reduction jab" does not fit either definition. Instead, it stimulates the production of spike proteins.

   Your fingernails are made of protein. Try this experiment: Cut off a bit of fingernail to form a spike. Now jab yourself in one eyeball with it a few hundred times. Then rub the spike back and forth across the other eyeball until it bleeds. [Do this as a thought experiment only]. Get the point?

   Now imagine the damage done by millions of spike proteins circulating in your blood. Your body is using up its immune ability trying to deal with these, which reduces your immunity to actual pathogens. Meanwhile, severe cardiovascular damage takes place. This is why otherwise healthy young people are dying from strokes and heart attacks within days of getting the jab.

   And yet the drug companies enjoy immunity from civil lawsuits while the Biden (mis)administration wants to force people to get jabbed.
    

2. Americans are openly ignoring the mask mandates in many locations. Where this happens at a high rate, there is no increase in Covid (of course, since masks do nothing to stop Covid). Quack Fauci has confidently made mutually exclusive claims about whether to wear a mask or not. The fact he is a clueless pathological liar is becoming increasingly evident. His power to inflict misery on Americans is waning.
    
3. Even in Blue states, mandates for pointlessly wearing masks are being rescinded. So are mandates for the immunity suppression jab.
    

Socialism fails, as usual

1. I refer to it as an immunity reduction jab, but that is oversimplification. Watch the video in this article for a more complete picture: https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-vaccine-injured-and-their-fight-for-treatment-transparency-trial-participants-stephanie-and-maddie-de-garay-and-brianne-dressen_4241609.html
    
2. Pelosi's Purge of Democrats from the socialist (Democrat) Party has a backlash effect. Nutcase sees it as a victory for socialism because they can more easily force their crazy programs through the legislature. But the more they do that, the more they alienate voters. It's not so much that people will change their vote from socialist to sane, it's that voters who tolerated the coup that disenfranchised over 70 million voters and put a mentally retarded, America-hating pedophile in the White House can take only so much and the is crossed frequently. Look for very strong election reform to get a big push from people who are tired not only of stolen elections but of the vastly damaging consequences they bring due to the "we aren't accountable to the voters!" attitude the "winning" politicians take when elections are stolen.
    
3. The Washington Examiner recently published a feature article about Chucky Schumer's abject failure as Senate Majority "Leader". His natural incompetence combined with his radically socialist agenda has made him the weakest person ever to hold that position.
    

Victory over socialism

1. Justice Stephen Breyer, a moron in all things legal and leftwing, Constitution-averse Supreme Court Justice nominated by Bill Clinton, has been a stain on that Court since 1994. He has announced he's retiring this summer. Good riddance.
   
   The downside is Brainless Biden can nominate his replacement. And Biden would choose a young socialist who could crap on the Constitution for decades (just as Breyer has and just as Sotomayer is in the process of doing). That is also the upside, because the Senate Republicans (and any rational Democrats in the Senate) can prevent a repugnant candidate from being confirmed. They have done that before, and they'll need to do it again. It is very likely the socialists will lose 30 to 50 seats in the House; that means they can replace Harris and Biden with the Speaker by impeaching those two imbeciles. And with the Senate strongly going to Republican control, the next POTUS can nominate a good candidate to replace Breyer and get Senate confirmation of that person.
   
   No party should promote a radical ideologue to be a Supreme Court Justice. The Democrats did that under FDR, and we have never recovered from it. They have done it ever since. I don't recall that the Republicans ever did that, which is one more reason we should never, EVER have a Democrat as POTUS. That has been a huge fail every time except maybe JFK. The Republicans have also had huge fails as POTUS, but not every time as the Dems have.
    
2. This from Wendy Rogers on 27JAN: "The Wisconsin Assembly voted unanimously in a voice vote in a privileged resolution to move forward Rep. Ramthun’s resolution to reclaim Wisconsin’s 10 electors for US President and Vice President who were certified under fraudulent purposes."
    
3. A Pennsylvania court shut down a major vector for election fraud. Read about it here: https://www.theepochtimes.com/pennsylvania-court-strikes-down-no-excuse-mail-in-voting-law_4242807.html. This particular fraud vector played a key role in disenfranchising the voters of PA in 2020 by giving their Electoral College votes to Joe Biden instead of to the man they elected. Going forward, PA will be much harder to steal. This ruling will also help with the ongoing effort to decertify PA's 2020 Electoral College votes due to the overwhelming fraud in that election.
    
4. By the time you read this issue, this item will be old news. I'm including it anyhow because it's a sign of things to come. Truckers have organized in a massive way to defy the immunity destruction jab mandates. Read about it here: https://www.theepochtimes.com/government-overreach-is-coming-to-an-end-massive-truck-convoy-heading-to-washington-after-ottawa_4242750.html.
    
5. It's been many years since I've visited the socialist country to the north of us 48 states, because they've gotten zanier and zanier (as socialists do). But Saskatchewan, which is due north of me here in mid-continent, has been relatively sane in all that time. And now, the Premier of Saskatchewan has promised to end the "vaccine" mandates. Epoch Times reported this quote, "“That said, because vaccination is not reducing transmission, the current federal border policy for truckers makes no sense. An unvaccinated trucker does not pose any greater risk of transmission than a vaccinated trucker,” he continued." If this sort of thing continues, sanity could become the new normal.
    
6. A Rassmussen poll shows that over half of Americans want Joe Biden impeached, barely a year after he illegally took office. This should be no surprise, since over half of Americans voted for Trump and got this mentally retarded, economy-destroying pedophile instead. More information about the poll is here: https://thenationalpulse.com/2022/01/31/half-of-america-already-wants-joe-biden-impeached
    
7. As of late January of this year, 29 House Democrats have said they will not seek another term. That could be good news if they are all socialists. It could be a mixed blessing if they are real Democrats (not many of them left).
    
8. Radical socialist Whoopi Goldberg, who has long gotten away with hateful and racist remarks, finally got a slap on the wrist. Socialist propaganda outlet ABC "News", aware that even it has limits, suspended Ms. Goldberg for two weeks. It is probably paid leave, but at least there was some lip service to reigning in leftwing hatred just a teensy bit.
    
9. Facebook, that nasty company run by a morally bankrupt socialist, is on the ropes. In his arrogance, Mark Zuckerberg believed he could abuse users and shove his own warped political opinions down their throats and they would stick with Facebook anyhow. He was wrong. Shares in the company have lost a fifth of their value. Let this serve as a warning to big tech socialists. We can walk away from you, and destroy your company. Read the full story here: https://www.theepochtimes.com/facebook-loses-nearly-200-billion-first-drop-in-users-in-company-history_4254611.html
    
10. Various labor unions are standing against the immunity reduction jab. This is an important development, because for decades the corrupt, bought-and-paid-for union "leaders" have coerced or deceived their members into voting socialist. Union members have repeatedly voted for their own pay cuts (tax increases), without understanding that's what they were doing by supporting socialists. Now, this demographic that has been reliably in the pocket of the "Democrat" (socialist) political machine has left the fold.
    
    Add this demographic to others that the socialists have alienated over the past few years: blacks, Cubans, parents, and retirees--which, only a few years ago were solidly "Democrat". They have joined blue collar workers, small business owners, and other demographics that have long rejected socialism. The red wave is looking increasingly like a tsunami. And that is very good news.

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Here's a seemingly simple question. How many Americans died from Covid-19 in 2021?

The simple, but wrong, answer can be determined by reading what the Centers for Disease Confusion says. But their number includes people who died allegedly with Covid-19 rather than from it, and the test for "with" has an 80% false positive rate. So their number is completely bogus.

Another wrong answer can be obtained by subtracting the total deaths in 2019 (our last "normal" year) from the total in 2021. That answer would be very far from the truth, because:

• Suicides were sharply up due to "Doctor" Fauci's policies.

• Deaths from drug abuse were sharply up for the same reason, and Fentanyl deaths in Port Huron, MI were of staggering proportions.

• Respiratory illnesses were exacerbated by the wearing of face coverings that impaired breathing, dirtied the incoming air, and did zilch to slow down Covid.

• Junk food consumption, a killer if there ever was one, skyrocketed as people stayed home with "comfort food".

• Traffic fatalities increased nearly 20%. "Nobody" seems to know why, but here is the reason: idiots wearing masks while driving suffered brain impairment due to oxygen deficiency. In many cases, their erratic driving caused others to collide (just not with them) or go off the road.

• About 50 other factors that increased the death rate.

Yet, we know that people died from Covid-19. Especially in New York nursing homes. So how many were there?

1. A statistician could arrive at a reasonable estimate of the number by extrapolating from the three preceding years the likely death rate for 2021. And then determining all of the major factors that influenced the death rate up or down and then accounting for those. And then coming up with a "real" number to subtract from the total of reported deaths (from all causes)

2. A simpler approach starts with the same extrapolation. But it also does an extrapolation of the suicides and drug overdoses that would have occurred if the year had been "normal". The difference is added to the extrapolated death figure, and that sum is subtracted from the actual total deaths in 2021.

Do you see that simply accepting a number from "an authority" such as the CDC is not an intelligent way to get "information?" What you get is disinformation. To see a picture that is anywhere near accurate, you have to do some math. But most people don't know that. The math is not difficult, it's just not done. Consequently, we have people believing the false narrative that millions of Americans died from Covid-19. And that makes them fearful and irrational. Though nature gave us a vaccine (Covid-21) that simply needs to be spread to work, they want more mask mandates and other nonsense.

And even though the vax has proven useless in stopping transmission, 43% of Democrats want the "unvaxxed" put in concentration camps to "protect" the "vaxxed". Do you see the non-logic there? If the vax protects you and/or stops transmission, why would you care if anyone else gets "vaxxed" or not?

We are caught in a vast stupidity vortex. Fueled by fear, it is more powerful than reason. So we cannot use reason directly against it. What we must fight is the fear.

If you can calm down a fearful person long enough to walk through something that shows there's no boogeyman to be afraid of, then you can liberate the mind of one person. This is a very challenging thing to attempt, and it seems futile because it's only one person at a time you liberate. But this sort of thing grows exponentially. So start with one person. You have to listen and you have to engage that person, rather than preach at them and get resistance. Arguing only reinforces the fear, because they go into a defensive mode. So back off rather than create fear or hard feelings. You don't have to save every person you meet, you have to save only one. If not this one, then another. Eventually, one entire tribe (or circle of influence) will switch at once.

===

Example

Something in a multi-person conversation led me to say Covid-19 is behind us, and now nature has provided its own vaccine which is Covid-21 also called "Omicron". This led to a very angry outburst from a 70-ish man, starting off with, "You don't know what you're talking about. Covid killed 9 million people in this country alone and it's still killing people because of the unvaccinated". He went on for a bit, making other false statements and dropping a few F-bombs for emphasis.

When he was done, I said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset". Then another person in our little gathering quickly changed the subject and I calmly chimed in. The angry man's face (which, incidentally, was face-diaperless) changed and a calm came over him. We got back on track just discussing things.

Why did I not make any attempt to inform him? For example, I could have said:
1. Covid has been with us for decades and will probably be around as long as there are humans.
2. Covid-19 was a particularly virulent variation, but even so it has been gone for a while now.
3. People who get Covid-21 develop natural immunity to covid viruses, due to the same principle upon which a weakened version of the polio virus (the Salk vaccine) conferred immunity.

What about the 9 million deaths? Well, all you have to do is look at the total deaths in the USA for 2020 and subtract the total for 2019.

There were 2,831,836 deaths in all of 2018 and 2,845,793 in all of 2019. In 2020, there were 3,378,414. That is an increase of 532,621. Quite a bit larger than the increase of 13,957 from 2018 to 2019. But is that all from Covid? No:
1. Suicide rates went up sharply due to social isolation (recommended by Fauci), economic problems, and the unrelenting negativity spewed by the lamestream media.
2. Deaths from Fentanyl spiked sharply. Port Huron, MI, has been particularly devastated.
3. Deaths from meth spiked sharply. Springfield, MO, has been particularly devastated.
4. The insurrection / civil war of 2020 involved large numbers of murders, including those of police and firefighters, by Black Lives Manipulated and riots that they and other hate groups spawned.

While all these numbers don't account for the full 532,621 deaths, they take that number down to something quite a bit less than it is. Certainly much less than the 9 million reported by the angry man. Why don't we have an exact number? Because instead of reporting deaths FROM Covid, the CDC (based on input it got, not really their own fault) reported deaths WITH Covid. And deaths WITH Covid are based on a test with an 80% false positive rate.

So why did I not clear this up? Because this man had let himself be manipulated by fear. That emotion rests in our oldest (in evolutionary terms) part of the brain, the amygdala. When information is processed there, only a fight or flight response is possible. Not reasoning, not learning.

Until you can remove the fear from a person thus brainwashed, you cannot reason with that person. And you cannot remove the fear simply by telling the truth or asking questions that might move that person toward self-discovery of the truth.

This case is a good example of how it is possible to set aside human intelligence and reasoning, replacing those functions with what is basically a crocodile brain. It is supplemented by the speech structures, but those don't perform reasoning. The fact that a person in amygdala mode can speak isn't good; they hear their own nonsense and it reinforces the fear that already made them stupid in the first place. There's no breaking out if this continues.

A person in this state may slowly get deprogrammed as reality filters down to the amydala and begins to mute the fear. That is normally a long process. An attempt to speed it up can merely trigger the reinforcement mechanism. What is the secret weapon at your disposal? You've probably already figured it out. You just stay calm. Calmly drop small truth bombs, calmly go about your business, calmly respond to angry outbursts, and calmly do not back down. On this last one, I don’t mean you should keep arguing, I just mean you don't legtimize or agree with the disinformation just to keep from further upsetting the person.

Also keep in mind the fight or flight response of your own. If you feel yourself becoming upset while in a conversation, you need to stop because your thinking ability is heading downhill fast. Maybe the other person has a point that you really do need to understand, and you're not going to do that if you are upset. And if the other person is wrong, your own feelings of upset will likely put them in the amygdala mode so there will be no good outcome.

We sane people face an extreme challenge between now and about this time next year when the new Congress will be in position and able to restore the Rule of Law. We are under constant assault and under constant threat. We can't simply ignore the problems, because the crazies see that as permission for them to do whatever they want. We just have to be smart about how we handle individual situations and how we comport ourselves in society. I would love to tell every face-diapered person why diapering their face will do absolutely nothing to protect them from any virus and why it's actually a bad health practice. Their response will be an amgydala mode one, they will simply get angry with me. So it would not be smart for me to do that. What is smart is going diaperless and conducting myself in a positive and friendly manner. This helps the diapered to associate positive feelings with being diaperless, and thus helps reduce their fear of the undiapered or being undiapered themselves.

It's not just the diaper silliness, of course. I used that as an example. We need to be smart about every one of the hundreds of angles of attack the socialists are using. Don't use their language, for example; use alternate language that isn't inflammatory (for example say face covering instead of diaper) and try to suggest rather than argue. Once you are "opposition" you can't win. But if you are on their side yet leaning toward X, you can possibly pull them along with you. "I was thinking" is softer than simply blurting something out, and it may get them to think also.

Above all, keep your higher brain (cortex) engaged by staying in a neutral emotional state.

There is a big fuzzy line you don't want to cross, however. If you arrange to have a couple of spares of nearly everything, you will have sunk a great deal of disposable income into creating clutter. When making a buying decision, always ask yourself, "How many of these do I really need at this moment and how many do I already have?" I know a person with four teapots. Generally, you use one at a time. The typical range has only two burners, so you could use only two at a time anyhow. The other two just waste space.

Think of disposables, too. For example, one box of ink pens is all you should ever buy at a single time. Unless, of course, you want a box of blue and a box of black or something like that. But this can quickly grow out of hand, maybe you should buy individual pens of each color and a spare of the color you use the most.

Take a look around your home, in your closets, in your cupboards, on your shelves, and in your (otherwise) free spaces. How much excess have you accumulated beyond what you need to "do the job?" Clear that out and gain space, while also determining not to repeat the mistake and thus waste money.

We sane people know that guns are not violent. But what the libtards mean is (their view that) if we eliminated guns then violence and death would almost never happen. They base that stupid idea on the theory that most murders are committed using "assault rifles". But is this true? Let's look at the types of weapons used to commit murder last year [Source: FBI 2020 Uniform Crime Report].

• 657 Americans were killed by using so-called "personal weapons" such as hands and feet.
• 1,732 were killed by using knives or other cutting instruments.
• 454 were killed by using a rifle of any type.

Conclusion: We need to ban hands and feet. If the libtards are sincere about reducing violent death, then they need to give up these weapons (hands and feet) rather than carry them around wherever they go. I don't see them volunteering, do you?

6. Health tip/Fitness tips

	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
See my climbing videos here: https://tinyurl.com/ClimbingSigChannel
Let's talk about beans. By any measure, they are a superfood. They are high in minerals such as potassium (hard to get enough of) and magnesium, high in fiber, and high in other nutrients. TPinto beans, commonly used in Mexican cuisine, are only 245 calories per cup yet loaded with nutrients. They are one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. Beans are inexpensive and easy to prepare. They are versatile, you can make as many tasty, nutritious dishes with them as your imagination allows. Dried beans and canned beans can be stored for a very long time. Bean flours (which also store well) are excellent, I bake with garbanzo flour on a regular basis. Bean flours are low in gluten, which for baking purposes isn't so good. To overcome that, use one part oat flour to one part bean flour and use twice the baking powder. Some reasons people give for not eating beans: They give me gas. Solution: Soak dried beans overnight, and add a half cup of vinegar to the water before doing so. Cook until firmness is just about gone. Gas should be minimal. I'm on the Paleo diet, and it doesn't permit beans. Solution: So now you have one more reason why the Paleo diet is just stupid. Stop following it I don't have time to make them. Solution: Buy canned beans but be sure to read the label for added sugar. Kidney beans are typically packed with sugar. They are not a complete protein. Solution: Have them with rice. I don't like the taste. Solution: Learn how to %&^&@ cook! There are thousands of ways to use beans to make scrumptious meals, not just have them as side dishes. Plain black beans with ground black pepper are delightful, but you can add any kind of beans to a vegetable-based dish. Try some Cajun recipes or just look online for bean-based dishes or dishes that contain beans. Or just start adding them to whatever you are making. You can even have them in an omelet. I like to eat out. Solution: If it's a decent restaurant, they will have beans available as a side dish. Ask for olive oil and black pepper on the side. I learned this trick when I met my good friend Joseph at a major chain restaurant many years ago. He ordered a plate of beans. It cost $4 and was this huge dish. Nobody in my family will eat beans if I make them. Solution: Just add beans to something compatible they like and they'll ask you for more. I don't have any place to prepare them. Solution: All you need is a can opener. I've worked with people who open canned beans at their desk and eat them with a spoon, cold, right out of the can. They're actually pretty good that way. Sorry, but it's an ethnic thing; my people just don't eat beans. Solution: Take a closer look at "your people". I can't think of a single ethnic group aside from Eskimos that doesn't take advantage of this cheap, nutritious food. But even if that were the case for your particular ethnic group, why would that matter in regard to your personal choices? If it's your uncle Screwbob who is anti-bean, then let him have his dumb opinion. You can enjoy beans without his approval being required. A trainer told me beans are a carb, and I need to cut down on carbs. Solution: Don't fixate on macronutrients. Yes, beans have carbohydrates. But they are also high in protein. And the carbs in beans are low-glycemic, whole-food carbs. The kind you need for training. I stopped consuming whey protein powders a long time ago. Whey consists of relatively small molecules, so it rapidly hits the bloodstream. About half of the typical whey protein shake is converted to fat. And whey is usually made from the milk of factory-farmed cows, meaning it's loaded with antibiotics (used to fight mammary infections on the cows, and all of them have mastitis) and things like glyphosate (from the corn the cows subsist on). I have a small protein shake each day and also use protein powder in the wheat-free, sugar-free cookies I bake routinely. The protein powders I use are blends that always include at least one kind of (you guessed it) bean. Including beans in your diet is a smart thing to do. Beans provide nutrition, taste, convenience, and versatility at a low cost. If you are concerned about natural resources, beans take a fraction of the water used to produce the same amount of animal protein. Carbon emission, also markedly lower. Really, there is no reason not to eat beans.

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

Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.