Free the Animal

Kennedy

I'm sitting here at a bar in a casino (where else at 5:30?) the TV is going, sound off, no subtitles, and it's wall to wall Teddy.

Did he check out, or do I need to start praying?

Las Vegas or Bust

Bit of a delay, and whereas Beatrice was going to come along, she has remained back to supervise dog procreation efforts. But US Airways seems to be handling everything just fine, and I managed to snag the $50 first class upgrade.

I'll be downtown this time, at the Golden Nugget, for Art De Vany's EvFit seminar on Sunday. Should be at the hotel by noon. Steak, eggs and fruit for breakfast it'll be.

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Sent from my iPhone

Automatic Lying

That's all this is about. Here's Warren's take. And Billy's. This bears reflection:

For years now, it's occurred to me that America would bring its characteristic (almost an instinct for) innovation to tyranny. This government would write new chapters in its annals, sprung from a uniquely American ambition and sincerity but bent so far around historic corners that all sight of home was lost. And so it would sink below its nature to something old and sick, but uniquely descended.

Get it?

Billy also linked this by Roy Spencer, who, of course, also notes that the polar bear population is likely at or near a record high since keeping track of such things. But what does that matter? There are "positions to stake out," "roles to play," "stances to take," and "poses to strike." ...All, euphemisms for plain old lying.

By the way, I picked up Spencer's book last weekend and would definitely recommend it. The sort of tragic-humorous-ironic style in that article is throughout the book. Here's a six-page excerpt (once you get there, click on the "Excerpt" link in the left sidebar).

What's Guaranteed to Set Me Off

Well if you must know, it'd be, for example, when a well-meaning employee emails a link to "Bike To Work Day" to all employees. Here's the touchstone of disgust:

Throughout the Bay Area, dozens of local events taking place during the month of May will get people excited about bicycling and the benefits it provides for public health, traffic reduction and our environment.

The best description I can think of on the fly is that of a smiley face telling you how great your sacrifices are going to be for everyone and everything else but you.

I love bikes. We got bikes. I use mine often, particularly so since the weather has warmed up. Why do I use the bike? Because it's the best thing for me, according to the context of the particular facts of the specific event in which I intend to use it. I live downtown, and it's usually far more pleasant, for me, to take the bike -- not the least of which is parking. And, it's just plain fun.

You know, it's always about guilt, isn't it? Either you're vermin who're messing up god's perfect universe, or you're more sophisticated -- not so weak minded as to believe in anthropomorphic gods. So, now you get to be vermin infesting mother earth. At root, it's the same formula: repent of your sins, and atone through self sacrifice.

Finally; I can tuck in my shirts

It's been a number of years, perhaps six or seven, since I've been comfortable tucking in my shirt, save for when I'm wearing a suit and the coat covers the sin.

Here was my last photo set, not quite three months ago, end of February. Net weight loss has been real slow (only about 5 pounds), but very steady. I think I've reached somewhat of a tipping point, however. Fat loss has been far in excess of what would be implied by weight loss. I estimate just on volume that I've gained 10 pounds lean in my thighs. They are getting to be quite large and dense, and I can't pinch but a quarter inch of subcutaneous fat.

The belly is the big challenge, but when I began, it stuck out a good six inches. Now, maybe one inch or so. In addition, I have the subcutaneous layer between the skin and the abdominal muscle that has not yet seemed to kick in. My trainer says that in men, it's always the last to go.

Anyway, here's this afternoon; about 20 hours since the last meal and an hour from a workout. Art told me in an email to smile when I take photos, because I deserve to. Voilà. It's a far cry from this.

What I See

Recently, I began receiving this Financial Times newsletter in my email box. I was awestruck by the image, and I still am every time I see it.

The sorts of people I hate & loathe would look at that as a scar on the planet. Those whom I consider stuck in dead-end, primitive superstition and fairy tales downplay such potential as "merely" the work of man. For me, it represents the path to the very highest ideals achievable by man through molding and leveraging physical reality, capital, values, and relationships in the pursuit of his highest moral purpose: the advancement of his life, ultimately reflected back in happiness and genuine, long-term well being.

You want to go to heaven? Look right up there. It's actually achievable; not through repentance to and redemption from either mother nature or imagined gods, but rather through reason, capitalism, individualism, and the exchange of values to mutual benefit.

How Do You Do It?

I caught like five minutes of Terry McAuliffe on Tim Russert yesterday as I was packing up in San Fran.

It's all just automatic lying, all the time, and everyone is perfectly happy to play along. Disgusting. I don't know what I'd do if I thought that ultimately, what I make of my life somehow necessitates a daily dose of the bullshit they're peddling.

I don't think the nightmarish disaster that is national politics will in any way be solved until people lose interest in the spectacle, beyond derisive ridicule and moral condemnation for the whole lot of it, without distinction or equivocation.