Mindconnection eNL, 2024-05-19

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Fighting Communism

1. A Sheriff's Deputy fired due to being in the crosshairs of the January 6 attack on First Amendment rights secured a $400,00 settlement. Note, their "crime" was to petition the government to address their grievance for what was clearly a stolen election--this is a Constitutionally protected right. All of the victims of this communist attack deserve to be immediately released if incarcerated and all of them deserve to be awarded damages and compensation. It's too bad the gov't can't go after Nancy Pelosi and other bad actors for those funds.

The Ongoing Covid Scam: Tidbits

1. The Centers for Disinformation and Censorship has issued a warning that the next pandemic may outstrip our medications. That's hilarious! First of all, who gives a sh** what the CDC says? Their credibility is below zero. Second, what does medication have to do with a pandemic? Nothing! During the PLANdemic, not a single recommendation by the CDC made any medical or scientific sense. They actively fought against Ivermectin and actively advocated Remdesivir (Run Death Is Near), when they should have done the opposite. If we ever have a pandemic, we certainly don't need the CDC getting involved in any way.
    
2. https://x.com/MendenhallFirm/status/1789677368346366140 The criminals who have murdered millions of people by perpetuating the fraud of a Covid "vaccine" are still at it.
    
3. I will just note here that Mr. Fauci personally made millions by impersonating a doctor and defrauding the government for 40 years with a "vaccine for HIV" scam. It is not possible to produce a vaccine that is effective against a rapidly mutating virus. Fauci should have joined Bernie Madoff in prison decades ago. Instead, he was free to make millions more through fraud and mass murder with his role in the Covid vaccine scam. He is a despicable excuse of a human being, as are all of the liars and con artists in the FDA, CDC, Biden inner circle, Gates Foundation, and WHO. Until they are called out, shamed, and deplatformed (as they have done to us), they will continue to prey on society as the psychopaths they are.

Other News

1. Because George Soros funded a radical communist to take over the Third Congressional District of Kansas where I reside, and thus left all sane residents (and most of the insane ones, too) without representation in Congress, I reached out to a strongly conservative Representative in another state and made her my representative. Like anyone else, she's not perfect. An example of this is her current little war on Speaker Johnson. While she is correct in her identification of Johnson's "wrong" moves and breaches of promise, there are practicalities involved that require compromise. In some cases, a lot of compromise.
   
   The communists control the Senate and the Executive Branch (including the very powerful shadow government that consists of mostly rogue agencies), plus they heavily influence the Judicial Branch through various means of coercion and intimidation. The only barrier to a complete loss of freedom, rule of law, and representative government is the razor-thin majority of the House. Now is not the time for infighting, now is the time for actively recruiting the few Democrats who are in the communist party (aka, Democrat Party) with extensive give and take. We have historical precedent of how this approach actually moves conservative goals forward (e.g., Gingrich and Clinton). We also have historical precedent of how being inflexible puts the crazies in power. The most notable is the fall of John Boehner, who made Republican purists unhappy. This launched Nutcase Nancy into her long career as Speaker of the House. If only Boehner's own party had not turned on him, America would have been spared much death, damage, and destruction. We need to learn from that history, not repeat it.
   
   Representative Greene needs to back off. That said, here is her speech before the House explaining her rationale (16:38): https://twitter.com/i/status/1788326320096559325
    
2. Because the Republicans act in a fragmented way, the Democrats rule the House even though in the minority. Yes, they get zero diversity among their party through bullying and other pressures just like their role model the Chinese Communist Party (and Stalin before them). But that does not diminish their effect. The Republicans need to preserve individual freedom, but they also need to learn how to play nice with each other. And they need to learn how to decide on some goals and stick to them, instead of letting the Democrats constantly stick it to us.

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There, you'll also find many other excellent products. These include:

• CAT tools
• Cold Steel knives
• Funko collectibles
• Galaxy 10 meter and 11 meter (CB) radios
• Hogue pistol grips
• iRV products for RVs
   
• Mike Holt Electrical Exam Preparation products
• Minigadgets hidden camera CO detectors and receptacles
• Paraben Consumer data recovery sticks
• RealSAM Pocket, which is a voice operated Galaxy smart phone for the blind
• Rigid Tools work lights and related
• Rostra universal cruise control kits
   
• Sig Sauer pellet guns
• SmartPens4U Rocket Pen Reading Tutor Scanning Pen | Case Bundle | Classroom Set
• Uniden radar detection systems (hard-wired)
• Victron DC power modules and related
• Wera Tools
• WeWalk Smart Cane "Cane with a Brain" for the blind

These are two of the most powerful tools in a brainpower arsenal. But in my observation (and according to the business literature), the vast majority of people don't understand these concepts. And of those who do understand them, a tiny minority correctly implement them.

What is focus?

One idea about focus is it means to work harder, another is it means to work longer. A third is it means to take on related tasks, thus doing more work in a given area. These ideas, while commonly practiced, are wrong.

Think of a typical garden hose sprayer. It has several spray settings. One of those is "jet". The water comes out in  focused, high pressure stream. This is the only setting that can blast bugs off your car grill, and why do you think that is?

Now, open a book or magazine to any page with a lot of text. I want you to quote from it with 100% accuracy. In one approach, you try to remember everything on the page. In another approach, you FOCUS your attention on one word that's on the page. Which approach do you think will result in guaranteed success? How about guaranteed failure?

Focus, by definition, means excluding everything but the target of your focus.

In martial arts, we focus our energy into a fist and when that punch lands the force is not dissipated over the opponent's body. It is FOCUSED into one part. If that part is the collarbone, the opponent will have a broken collarbone. And this gets us to the next concept....

What is prioritization?

Let's say a bully forces you into a fight. The bully is much larger than you are. But you have trained to be able to focus, and you pack a fairly solid punch. Now the question becomes which target do you hit first? A belly shot is unlikely to disable the opponent. A punch to the face is more likely to hurt your hand than to stop your opponent. One target that will do the job quite nicely is your opponent's collarbone. I taught this to my stepdaughter when she was six. Not long after I taught her this, she got attacked by a ten year old boy (5th grader). It was never clear why. He just came up and started hitting her. Her only move was to bring her fist down on his collarbone. And broke it. With a single strike, she defeated a bully who was much larger than she was. That strike was both focused and prioritized.

In the course of your day, you have only so much time and energy. So you must choose where to put it first. The way most people do this is by reacting. They react to e-mail. They react to criticism. They react to manipulation. They react to this, that, and the other thing. All of which means they are not in control and they are largely wasting their time and energy on what other people want instead of FOCUSING it onto achieving their own goals.

Stephen R. Covey's classic, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, discusses the quadrant system. If you have not read this book, or it's been years since you have read it, get a copy and read it. The gist of that discussion is that unsuccessful people give their time and attention to things that are neither important nor urgent and that's the reason they are unsuccessful, stressed out, and almost hopeless. They let unimportant things get treated as if urgent, therefore important things don't get done.

Prioritization is about deciding what is important AND urgent. Then you FOCUS on that first. Next, turn your FOCUSED attention to what is important but not urgent (because all the important and urgent stuff is done). Doing this prevents important things from becoming urgent.

What throws us off?

When a person lacks focus, it's typically because that person has failed to prioritize. They try to do multiple things at once, as if all demands have equal value (they don't). This dissipates brainpower; it spreads it out over competing interests instead of focusing it on what you are doing. When I am climbing, I am not thinking about world affairs, the vast amount of work that awaits me at the office, or what meals I plan to prep that evening. My priority is that climb. When I am belaying another climber, that person is my only concern in the whole world. I prioritize that person's safety over all else and focus my attention on what she or he is doing.

A person confronted with many tasks and demands might try to satisfy as many as possible. But how many of those are actually worth satisfying? If another person is upset because I didn't drop my own goals to meet their latest demands, how is that my problem? Just because the phone rings, should I answer it? And waste yet more time with yet another telemarketer? Just because my Inbox fills up with spam, why should I feel urgency about going through my e-mail? All day long, we are confronted with distractions. These can divert our attention, our FOCUS, from what really matters.

What is the solution?

Not to sound too formulaic, but there is a simple solution. I call it "plan and execute". It's what every successful manager and military commander does. Here it is in a nutshell:

1. Decide what is really important to you. What is of value to you personally? How do you want to spend your limited life on earth, and what do you want to get out of it? Think in terms of purpose.
2. Set goals that help you fulfill your purpose.
3. Decide on activities that will help you meet your goals, and thus fulfill your purpose.
4. Schedule things. This is where many people fall down. If you don't set aside specific time to do the specific things that help you meet your goals and are part of your plan, then they get pushed aside by things that are neither important nor urgent. You're relying on willpower, and everyone has a very limited reserve of it. Schedule, instead.
5. Stick to the plan, unless there is some compelling reason not to. Be adaptable, but not flippant.
6. Execute on thing at a time. This is the efficient way, as "multitasking" is a fallacy. Your brain can do one task at a time, and it must switch between tasks.

Note that it is better to ignore everything for 20 minutes and focus on that important business letter than it is to try to write it while periodically checking e-mail and gabbing on the phone.

What really matters

I close this with a few comments on the concept of what really matters. In my observation, people tend to get this wrong. I have seen some get it right and have learned from their example. Remember, we do not exist very long. Based on current evidence, humans first appeared 300,000 years ago. If you can expect to live 80 years, that's 1/3,750th of human existence. Not very significant. You really do not have much time to do something important with your life. Here are some things I deem important:

• Being self-sufficient, as much as is practical. This means taking care of your health and your finances.
• Family. If you are a parent this doesn't mean spoiling your kids, it means empowering them to not need you. Whether you are a parent or not, your family honor is important. Bringing shame on your family, for example look at how Nancy Pelosi behaves, is a poor use of your life and you have failed in a major life metric.
• Loving relationships. How do you make your significant other feel? How do you treat your friends? Can people "feel the love"?
   
• Legacy. What do you pass on to other people? What example do you set for others? At your funeral, what will people say? What about five years later?
• Self-image. Many people today waste their lives on a delusional self-image. The "social justice warrior" is an example, it's all myth and of zero value. Take stock of yourself and what you are good at doing. Base your self-image on that. And be sure to exclude meaningless flaws, because everybody is imperfect.
• Happiness. Are you happy? I'm not asking if you get your dopamine fix. I'm asking if you are happy. There's a huge difference.
   
• Being at least "pretty darn good" at something. Do you have a hobby or interest at which you excel? I will never be a world class climber, but I'm pretty darn good at it.
• Seeing the good in others and letting them know. If your mindset is such that you expect the best and see it in others, the positive energy will be felt in many ways by them and others. But let them know, anyhow.
• Having a well-deserved reputation of being reliable, the person others can count on. This doesn't mean you're a doormat or are the first to volunteer. It means that when you accept responsibility, others rest easy knowing that. For example, I've been writing for EC&M Magazine for almost thirty years. I have reliably turned in high quality work and have never been late with an assignment.

Things that don't matter, or at least should not matter:

• Your track record at winning arguments. This concept ignores the reality that arguments are seldom actually won. You should seek to understand, then to be understood. You should not seek to bully another person into agreeing with you.
• How good you are at cheating others. It doesn't mean you are superior, it just means you are less honest than you should be. And that's a character flaw.
• How much money you can pile up. While it is prudent to build a reserve, even a big one, to what extremes will you go? Keep things in balance.
• How fancy your things are. What did you have to sacrifice to get these? There's a difference between quality possessions (e.g., real wood furniture) and conspicuous consumption. The latter merely shows gross insecurity.

Once you decide what really matters in your life, then you can more easily FOCUS your time, attention, brainpower, etc. on those things because you give them PRIORITY.

Many "experts" say to cut up all of your credit cards. This is stupid advice. One effect this will have is it will destroy your credit score. The more credit cards you have, the better (until you get to some ridiculous number like 24) as long as you aren't piling them on so fast you keep your average age of account too low. The more unused credit you have, the higher your FICO score will be. Your FICO score is very important, and not just for getting the best possible loan terms. Protect it.

Here are some things you can do to reduce your credit card debt or at least make it less scary:

• Pay your cards every 14 to 21 days. I keep a running Outlook appointment. By paying my card down before the statement is issued, I have a higher FICO score than if I wait until that balance is officially recorded on the statement. And it's emotionally easier to make smaller payments than it is to make bigger ones.
• Put your utilities and other recurring payments on a card or two that never leaves your house and is used only for this purpose. If you use a reward card with cash back points, you'll effectively reduce those bills.
• Avoid impulse buying. Never go to a store without a list. Once there, don't deviate from the list.
   
• Choose less costly alternatives when going out. For example, instead of going to a restaurant and blowing $100 for a family of four to "enjoy" meager food that's probably loaded with things you shouldn't eat, go to a museum and drop $20 into the donation box.
• Make home worth staying in. Entertaining or relaxing at home saves a ton of time and money. You don't always have to go somewhere. Keep your home neat, clean, and well-appointed.
• Combine trips. If you eat mainly fresh whole food, you are shopping at least twice a week. Instead of making a special trip grocery run, tack on other needed stops that you can make along the way. For example, pick up a book of postage stamps, fuel up the car, drop off the library rental item. Each of the other stops will take only a few minutes if along the route, but if done as separate trips they will consume considerably more time and fuel.
   
• Use older things that fell out of use. I used to wear wing tips every day, until I stopped working in an office building. I have over a dozen pairs. They've been rarely worn over the past 20 years. But they look beautiful, with deep shines. So after wearing out a couple pairs of my SAS shoes I decided to pull the wing tips out and wear those instead of spending $250 on a couple new pairs of SAS.
• Repair things. I accidentally twisted the heel off a wing tip shoe. I reattached it using Gorilla glue. That saved me the cost of shipping both shoes to a cobbler (no local ones left) for resoling, I figure $120 saved via a few drops of this powerful adhesive.
• Compost. I have two composting tumblers. I grow amazing vegetables every summer, and never buy fertilizer.
   
• Practice health care. This is the best way to avoid crippling medical bills.
• Mistrust and don't bother to verify. If you visit a medical office and they want you to do social distancing or wear a mask, mistrust their advice on any medical treatment because these idiocies they are advocating have no scientific or medical basis. Before the visit, determine what you need done. Stick to the plan. Don't do any impulse buying!

While traveling recently on a 20 mile stretch of I-70 and consistently driving 5 MPH over the posted limit, I was tailgated the whole way by one idiot or another. A cornerstone of defensive driving is you leave a space bubble around your car. That would be in front of your car, behind your car, and on each side. Doing so almost ensures you will not collide with another car.

To me, it is an act of insanity to tailgate another driver. The physics are definitely not in your favor. By the time you can react, you will already have collided. Your main "accomplishment" when tailgating is you hugely increase the danger to yourself.

On this particular trip, it seemed like 98% of the other drivers on this patch of road had completely lost their minds. Most of them got so close, I could not see their front bumper in my mirror. I tried the old hazard light trick, it didn't work (flash it on briefly to imitate braking). These crazies would tire of tailgating, then change lanes, wildly accelerate, and cut in front of me. This went on for 20 miles. I watched them tailgate each other in front of me, nothing changed.

During this hazardous venture on a cop-free interstate (thanks to Nutcase Nancy and others for spreading the "defund the police" stupidity), I kept thinking there wasn't much sanity remaining to prevent one of these crazies from "getting back at me" for the "crime" of plodding along at "only" 5MPH over the posted speed limit. I was going that fast in hopes of not giving anyone a reason to be upset with me. But these people were beyond reason. How would they "get back at me?" A particularly deranged inDUHvidual could pull in front of me and slam on his or her brakes, forcing me to stop. Then they get out of the car to physically threaten me.

I was on my way home from a grueling session of climbing and feeling quite depleted. Could I count on my Kung Fu for me to dominate in a physical altercation? Probably. But should I? And what about a person who doesn't have those abilities, what do you do? Under my driver's seat, I used wire ties to make a "quick release" hanger for a 5 cell flashlight. With its D cells, it's heavy. And long. It's the same headbanger that many cops use, although I think among cops the 4 cell is more common these days. It's a weapon capable of inflicting massive damage. Depending upon the situation, I will use it to:

1. Slam sideways into my attacker's closest knee and break it. This will prevent him from walking and coming after me.

2. Slam it down on my attacker's collar bone and break it. This will render one arm useless.

3. Swing it against his hand, and break it. This is the default move if he's holding a knife or gun. After which I will do the other two moves in quick succession.

I also have a 14 inch folding knife in my console. The purpose of that weapon is to (more than) disable an attacker who reaches through my window, as in a car jacking or robbery while I am still seated.

Having these weapons, and having taken the time to drill in their use, increases my personal security. But I would rather not have my itinerary interrupted by having to use them on some bully. It is much better to let the crazies "win" in their imaginary road conquests.

Let them "win"

Some tips:

• Don't flip them off.

• Don't honk or flash your lights.

• Don't even look at them. But if you just can't help yourself, then paste on a smile and wave.

• Maintain course and speed, unless there is a clear way to get out of their way.

• Remember that it's nothing personal, they are just insane and you just happen to be there.

• Remember that they like to keep score of how many cars they have "beaten" so let them "beat" you and move on to the next imagined target.

That is far better than letting them ruin your day, amp up your stress level, or goad you into behaving as idiotically as they do. And it's far better than turning their mental derangement into a physically dangerous situation ranging from road rage driving tactics aimed at you to actually forcing you to stop and exit your car.

Think positive thoughts, such as imagining this other driver arriving safely. And then hearing someone s/he loves complain about the terror felt after being subjected to the same behavior this driver engages in. And then that driver resolving to act like a responsible adult.

Or you could imagine yourself pouring honey on this other driver while s/he is staked down on top of a massive ant hill. You will arrive at your destination without having allowed this person to induce a stress response in you. But you will have allowed this person to induce you to have hateful thoughts, so maybe isn't a good solution.

If you did accidentally annoy someone, the response should be a little different. I've accidentally cut off another driver a few times in all the decades I've been driving. I hate it when someone does that to me, so when the tables are turned, I look sheepishly at the other person and mouth, "I'm sorry". I have also been the recipient of road rage for which I had not contributed any annoyance. In those cases, I go back to the strategy just outlined. I have always found these idiots aren't concerned about me. They don't even see me, they just see a car that's in the way on THEIR road. Once past me, they just terrorize the next car that has the audacity to try using THEIR road. Notice I said "car" not "person". That's how these idiots perceive the "trespassers" on THEIR road. You want to remember that idiot who is terrorizing other drivers is a person. Even if doing so seems like quite a stretch for you.

Some people like to have a revenge fantasy about another driver, their boss, a neighbor, a coworker, or someone else they find exasperating and stressful. While this can bring temporary relief, you are still generating negative energy. With some stranger on the road, this might not seem so bad except you have added to the negativity instead of doing something positive. If it's someone you know, the negative energy will manifest in how you behave. The biggest failure there is you lose the opportunity to turn that person into a friend. Of course, there are some people who are contrary just because there's something wrong with them. Kindness toward them might seem ineffective, but why put yourself in their crosshairs? You might never get along with such a person, but let that be their fault not yours.

When all else fails

Always have your weapons and training as Plan B. If forced to use them, you should already be calm from your redirecting exercise. That calmness alone can rapidly de-escalate a situation. But if they seem to be ramping up the anger, then proceed calmly and quickly with your attack. Make it fast and powerful, ending any danger to you before it can actually present itself. Never wait for them to strike first, strike a crippling blow while the attacker is still in blustering mode. Take the fight to them, and make them eat it.

6. Health tip/Fitness tips

Statistics when this photo was taken, 10 days before my 63rd birthday: Height: 6'0" Wingspan: 6'1" Weight: 152.6 lbs, which is more than the 148.8lbs from the 2022 shoot. I am also leaner for this one (notice the striations in my left pec). Bodyfat: Unknown, but well below what the Tanita scale says is 5% Waist: 29 Chest: 48 Arms: 15 Quads: 20.25   Max bench press: Unknown, but I do 4 sets of 10 reps with 150 lbs to warm up on chest day Max squat: Unknown, but I do 4 sets of 8 reps of front squats with 90lbs to start Leg Day Cholesterol: In normal range, on low side Testosterone: Above the upper limit of the normal range   Last illness: 1971 Last workout missed: Spring of 1977 Training days per week: 6 Type of training: Split routine, heavy on supersets   Meals per day: 7 on training days, 6 on rest day Number of eggs eaten per day: Between 7 and 10 Percent of diet that is processed food: 0 Amount of meat, wheat, corn, or soy eaten annually: 0 Number of clot shots received: 0. ********* See all of my climbing videos here: https://tinyurl.com/ClimbingSigChannel. Some cool climbing  videos: https://youtu.be/s4G0ssyJ3hc https://youtube.com/shorts/5919UDqCXDc https://youtube.com/shorts/jYvKJ9mKyyE My hardest climb ever, a 5.11d on lead: https://youtu.be/UT5h0heUUBc . I made a dumb mistake initially, letting the rope wrap over my shoulder. Watch what happens. The scale: Beginner: 5.6. 5.7. 5.8, 5.9 Intermediate: 5.10a, b, c, d 5.11a, b, c, d Advanced: 5.12a, b, c, d 5.13a, b, c, d. Almost nobody climbs at this level at any of the 5 local climbing gyms.

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