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Bonus: Just Brimming With American Freedom and Liberty

God, I love this country.

How could you not?

A Messsage of Freedom and Liberty

Wesley Snipes gets three years for "failing" to calculate what "The Land of the Free" demands of the time of his one and only life (money) and filing papers documenting it.

It's enough to get the "America: Love It or Leave It" crowds dancing in the streets.

(link: Balko, who has a few other links to spectacles of American freedom and liberty)

A Round of Applause

Art De Vany serves up the impressive 4-month fitness results of one of his readers.

Part I

Part II

Any doubters left...that random, stochastic evolutionary fitness, i.e., pre-agricultural (Paleo) eating, brief, intense, fun and functional resistance training, and intermittent fasting is the path to longevity, fitness and health?

NewsFlash: Super Layman Climate Skeptic Warren Meyer Admits He's Been Wrong All Along

It's a sad day.

Diets Don't Work

Practitioners of the Evolutionary way know why.

It takes a stochastic approach, i.e., Paleo eating, intermittent (brief, intense, preferably fun or at least functional) resistance training, and intermittent fasting (offset by intermittent overfeeding).

How to Kill Your Chances of Being a Superstar

You sing Jesus Christ Superstar as an American Idol contestant.

The Broadway show and subsequent productions were condemned by some religious groups. Tim Rice was quoted as saying "The idea of the whole opera is to have Christ seen through the eyes of Judas, and Christ as a man, not as a God." Some Christians considered this, as well as the omission of the resurrection, to be sacrilegious. They also found the character of Judas too sympathetic and some of his criticisms of Jesus offensive.

When they said Carly Smithson was going to do that song during the Andrew Lloyd Webber show this week, I immediately asked myself what in the hell she was thinking, and could possibly nobody alert her to the fact that a very large part of the country will never vote for her if she sings that?

See, I very keenly remember the apocalyptic, sings-of-the-end-times outrage at the time the album, opera, and film were released in the early 70s, and my family wasn't even yet part of the Christian fundamentalist movement, but simply evangelical -- i.e., fundamentalism lite.

When the vote was revealed last night I wasn't the least bit surprised, even though she is at least in the top three of talent this season. I kept waiting for someone to say the obvious. I'm still waiting, so I guess it fell to me.

Breakfast, Breakfast and Longevity Notes

Here was the literal break-fast last night, after a very nearly 36 hours fast. Very simple, and no, it's not lettuce that's gone brown; it's balsamic. Pretty much, the only salad dressing I do now is home made with quality cold pressed extra-virgin olive oil. This one is simply olive oil and balsamic. Another one I do is a French vinaigrette that's a bit more complex. I'll have to remember to provide the recipe next time. You'll love.

Yep, those are potatoes -- fingerling -- initially sautéed just a minute or two on the stove in butter, garlic, and lots of paprika. Then, onto a cookie sheet at 350 for 20. Then 3-5 under the broiler. While I eat almost no grain, grain product, rice, pasta, legumes...I do take in some potato, usually a couple of times per week. Oh, almost forgot: 16 oz ribeye, grilled at five-hunerd.

This morning:

The omelet begins with a good sized pat of butter on medium, then several slices of yellow onion sliced very thin, like a 16th. Onion in the butter until brown and carmelized. In the meantime, beat the two eggs; and I took one of the three strips of bacon and chopped it up. All goes into the pan with the onion and butter. For years I have faced the issue of having a difficult time getting the cheese (pepper jack, in this case) fully hot & melted without overcooking the egg. Grating helps, but even better is to just slice up what you need, into a bowl, and nuke it for 30-45 seconds. It makes a nice goo, which you can then easily spread onto the omelet and fold over. And check out how little rind there is on the Trader Joe's mini watermelons.

Here's a couple of interesting things I read yesterday on the subject of longevity.

IF Life: The Longevity Gene SIRT1 Part I - CR, Fasting and Aging Diseases

Clarence Bass: Weight Training Reverses Almost 40 years of Aging -- in Six Months; Restores Youthful Genetic Footprint to Mitichondria

The researchers summarized their findings: “We report here that healthy older adults show a gene expression profile in skeletal muscle consistent with mitochondrial dysfunction and associated processes such as cell death, as compared with young individuals. Moreover, following a period of resistance exercise training in older adults, we found that age-associated transcriptome expression changes were reversed, implying a restoration of a youthful expression profile.” (Emphasis added.)

“The main, novel finding,” Co-author Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky told CS (Canadian Press) writer Sheryl Ubelacker, “is that we could bring that aging mitochondria pattern back towards a younger person, almost reversing the aging signature, pretty much by 40, 45 years with six months of weight training.”

Full Study

(linked via the new Fitness Spotlight aggregator)

The older you are, the absolutely more essential it is to get exercise in the form of weight training. If you can possibly afford it, which is probably more a matter of priority, get a personal trainer and tell him you'll only hire him if he can squeeze an hour workout into 30 minutes, and do it twice per week. I have worked out on, mostly off, for many years. Never did I make it more than about 2 months without dropping off (sometimes for years), with a single exception where I had a workout partner, but then it lasted only six months. I am just about at the one year point, and I have missed exactly one workout where I didn't reschedule to the next day or so. That's the difference a trainer makes.

If you have injuries, just work around them. You have lots of muscle groups.

"...what's wrong with Earth Day?"

That was a question posed to me about my own essentials-only Earth Day post. I think my answer in comments requires it's own entry.

"...what's wrong with Earth Day?"

Here's a couple of people who took the time to spell it out.

Greg Swann
Warren Meyer

I encourage you to read and understand both. It's only the tip of the iceberg. In terms of fundamentals, what's wrong with it is: collectivism.

Both posts are must-reads, and take particular note of Don Boudreaux's post that Greg links to.

And I'll Keep Saying It

Fuck Obama. And his pretentious, stupid bitch.

Caroline Glick has her number.

Speaking in February of the man she knows better than anyone else does, Michelle Obama said that her husband, Illinois Senator and candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination Barack Obama, is the only candidate for president who understands that before America can solve its problems, Americans have to fix their "broken souls."

She also said that her husband's unique understanding of the state of souls of the American people makes him uniquely qualified to be President. Obama can do what his opponent in the Democratic race Senator Hillary Clinton, and Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, cannot do. He can heal his countrymen's broken souls. He will redeem them.

But then, saving souls is hard work, and Mrs. Obama won't place the whole burden on her husband. He'll make the Americans work for him. As she put it, "Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zone. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed."

Outrageous.

(link: Art)

Social Disintermediation

A number of good applications for the P2P or social lending model. I previously posted on this topic.

A Little Hasty?

In the interest of keeping my own self accountable and honest, I was compelled to revisit the Texas Polygamy case and my quick-draw post on the matter prior to taking in anything but the initial report.

Billy points to three posts by Wendy McElroy here, here, and here. It's the latter of those three he's referencing. I think she's dead on about the women from the perspective of 3rd party intervention. There's no plausible way they couldn't leave or explicitly call for help if they wanted.

Having read over what I posted, I still think my general point is valid, which is that rational men, unbound by "The People" fallacy, might have taken care of that mess long ago. Of course, they would have been totally accountable for whatever actions they took, and had they found it necessary to dispatch the rapists and those giving aid and comfort to the rapists (the adult wives), then they would have also been responsible for the well being of all the children as far into the future as it takes. Not saying that's what should have happened at all; just what if.

Ghastly? Perhaps, but the prospect strikes me as less arbitrary and less risky than the current situation. In the former, you have people sincerely acting upon conviction and principle to protect innocent people they have strong reason to believe are being abused against their will, and/or have been fraudulently denied a normal human will. In the latter, you have state and law enforcement authorities primarily out for headlines, camera face time whilst all dressed G.I. Joe, promotion files, commendations, and so on and so forth. Add to that, as Waco and Ruby Ridge proved: there's no real accountability for their actions when they become the predators.

I believe there are young girls there, lots of them, who though perhaps not being physically forced into sex with far older men (beyond the natural force that partly defines the act), are nonetheless indoctrinated into believing they have no choice. In my book, that's just a rape packaged in a fraud, both of which a rational libertarian ought to condemn. The reason these people put themselves and children into compounds is in part to grease the wheels of indoctrination, such that children literally have no concrete concepts of what is right and wrong stemming from their own perceptual integration. What does that mean? That means that if you, as a parent, shield your children from what the real stakes are in the real world so that they may grow to understand and act rationally within it, then you are neglecting your children. And if you then use their ignorance to take an advantage you otherwise would not be able to take, then you are being abusive.

So I find myself in an odd attitude about it. I loath the state. I loath those people. I think it's anyone's business to reasonably assure that defenseless kids aren't being sexually abused when there's a very bright suspicion they are.

Let Me Get This Over With, First Thing

Fuck "Earth Day."

That is all.

Delicious

From Warren Meyer an absolutely delicious admission. This is tantamount to the "'scientist' tries to prove Bible false; is converted" baloney that gets trotted out by unsophisticated religious people. The difference, of course, is that climate, at least, is a scientific topic. But still; religious zealots will always appeal to "science" for credibility (since they're not credible otherwise), as will man-made catastrophe zealots develop religious overtones to their approach.

As an aside, it looks like that post took a while to get noticed. It's an interesting juxtaposition, the first few dozen comments and the last few dozen. By the way, I think Warren's use of the word "comments" in his blog post refer to the statements by Mark Seal on the blog post referenced, and not the comments to the post (I tell you because I was initially confused by that).

STOP YELLOWSTONE NOW!

A humorous look at what would happen with the super volcano under Yellowstone if enterprising pseudo-scientists and their media and politician-whore bedfellows could only come up with a plausible man-made scenario.

Read it. After all, it's for the children.

Your Attention, Please

Kyle Bennett has up an extensive post dealing with prosecution without the state. Definitely worth a read, though it could be tough for the faint of heart.

A question you might ponder: what's likely to result in a greater number of injustices; a private justice system, where everybody is a prosecutor and 100% accountable for the propriety of all prosecutions, or a state, where every prosecutor is 0% accountable, short of outright fraud?

Roots of Destruction

Karen De Coster calls attention to Bill Maher, his comments on religion in general, and those of the Pope and The Catholic Church in particular. The segment for which she posts a transcript begins at 3:15 into the video.

Well, what can I say? I could maybe pick at a thing or two, but he more or less makes a lot of valid points and draws some certain parallels. He's as right as the sunrise: the only reason the Catholics get a grudging pass on their institutionalized child rape and cover up, and that "kooky Mormon cult" doesn't, is that, for one, the Catholics have lots of voters; and two, they either cannot, or refuse to think honestly and in terms of consistent principles when grappling with mind-created fantasies like imaginary friends and sooper beings with sooper powerz.

We are dealing with people -- voters -- who are operating under delusions, Karen, and Sunday morning Mass and Friday fish are the least and non-essential manifestations of such delusion. Ideas have consequences, and the problem with delusions is that the public policy that ultimately trickles down is perfectly integrated with such delusions.

I think we ought to always fight the idea of State omnipotence and, the difference with me is that I just go one god farther, and just as hard.

...he should look to the state and its war on human freedom, and not focus on people who privately "believe" and therefore carry personal feelings between them and their religion/church, and cause no one any physical harm in doing so.

The modern western state derives its moral authority from mainstream religion, both explicitly and through political manipulation. Ultimately, unless you're going to get people to believe that their god is really loving and benevolent, rather than a murderous mutherfucker who smites women, children, and livestock, and tortures non-believers in eternal fire, then you're simply not dealing with the very most fundamental psycho-epistemological underpinning of the state.

A Big Breakfast and an I Told You So

I guess, more accurately, this would be a big "startfast."

That's leftover tri-tip roast, grilled on the BBQ for guests last evening. Three strips of fried, uncured bacon, two eggs over easy, and some red grapes. Of course, the unsalted butter in which I fried the eggs went on top of the roast. Yum.

Next meal tomorrow night, about 36 hours from this meal, and a few hours after a workout at the gym.

Next up, some will recall my two posts concerning a speech given by Gary Taubes, here, and then a follow-up here. I was trying to get across the idea that what Taubes seemed to be driving at is that it's not nearly so simple as calories in, calories out. Ultimately, that's true, but that's just the raw material, and not the causal factor which, I speculated was akin to a positive feedback mechanism. I wrote the following in the second post referenced above:

... it's not simply the fact of excess calories of any sort that makes people fat, but rather, they are turning on a fat-accumulation hormone that tips a balance, such that fat begins to act much like a tumor...

[...]

And what happens when a tumor gets to be of sufficient size? Does it not then become a self-sustaining cannibalistic parasite, sacrificing healthy bodily tissue for its own sake in a positive-feedback mechanism, such that the bigger it gets, the bigger and more parasitic its influence on the rest of the body until eventually its pathological selfishness kills the very host that feeds it?

This morning I cam across this bit of research news, courtesy of a commenter over at Art's.

Your belly fat could be making you hungrier

The extra fat we carry around our middle could be making us hungrier, so we eat more, which in turn leads to even more belly fat.

[...]

Yang says “this may lead to a vicious cycle where NPY produced in the brain causes you to eat more and therefore gain more fat around your middle, and then that fat produces more NYP hormone which leads to even more fat cells.”

Many of the things I have learned over the last months seem so dammed obvious and simple that's it's really difficult to understand why this "low fat, whole grains" culture persists. One thing's for sure, and that's that most of the people out there spouting it aren't -- and probably never did -- actually thinking about any of it. When that happens, there's just no telling what you're going to get. I'd point to political implications, but that'd be just too obvious.

Lead Balloons

First up this morning, Billy points to "A Bill." I agree with him. Although, I must say that Barney Frank's statement goes just about as far as any "lawmaker" can go without just cutting to the essentials of the matter, which is that it's none of your business..."voter."

Certainly, the implied insanity of the current state of affairs is pretty well reasoned out, within the context of the reality that the State is all powerful and it really owns "your" life & the time of it, and not you. Even so, the title above speaks to just how this will likely go over.