Mindconnection eNL, 2011-06-19

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I'll explain in a moment. But first, let's look at another icon of physics, Albert Einstein. If you study his timeline, you'll note that he made his most remarkable achievements while in his 20s, but in the last quarter of his life he was, well, "achievement-free." It's not because he got old and senile. You can see the reason, if you look "between the lines" a bit.

Recall that when Einstein explained his Theory of Relativity, he did this using physical examples like a person on a train.

Similarly, Faraday used physical objects to show that magnetic lines of force exist. In fact, this is probably how you were taught. Did you ever drop iron filings on paper over a magnet? In Einstein's later years, he moved toward an abstract way of thinking and explaining.

While humans can, and should, think in the abstract, that's not where we do our best work. When the brain has physical objects to process, more of its resources come to bear on the problem.

If you want to maximize your brainpower, do like Faraday and the young Einstein. Put concepts into real terms and physical realities. This more fully engages your brain, and not just when you're awake and focusing on the problem. When you make the problem physically perceptible, your subconscious works on it too. You can recall more than a few times you've awoken with the solution to some problem. But I'll bet it was something based on real objects rather than just virtual ones.

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You can find statistics on how much is manufactured in the USA, but there's a problem. The federal gummit produces these statistics, and in the interests of political agenda, includes burger flipping as manufacturing because the burger flipper is "making" a sandwich. If we could get that lie removed from the stats, we would still be left with the problem of defining "manufacture."

Is something manufactured if you snap together a few subassemblies? How many of the components have to be made in the USA before the product is considered made in the USA? Because of these and similar questions, it's extremely difficult to determine actual manufacturing output per an honest definition.

Something I peruse quarterly are the stats on factory construction. These are not gummt stats, but are instead provided by firms in the construction industry. They are real data, and they give you an indication of manufacturing activity. What I can tell you for certain is it's becoming ever more automated. So manufacturing jobs disappear even as output goes up. The same thing happened with farming. Farming jobs have been disappearing, but it is not true to say "we don't grow anything here anymore." Unfortunately, we grow it with a heavy reliance on oil products and soil destruction.

You can buy American goods, and that will help the USA economy. Ditto, buying American services. But the single biggest way to help the economy is to drastically reduce federal spending.

There's no reason the federal budget can't be running a surplus, something our economy badly needs. Simply eliminating several completely useless federal agencies and "right sizing" those that are left will almost accomplish this. Ending our pointless wars would put us over the top. See if you can persuade your misrepresentatives in CONgress to do something right for a change and help this country out that way.

These boxes can also make a home more secure, even if it's not being sold. Remember the old "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up." advertisements? Now imagine if the home has an elderly, disabled, or sick person. Or pets left while you're on vacation and the petsitter stops by once a day and doesn't live nearby.

And suppose there's a gas leak, fire, or medical emergency. How do first responders gain access to the home?

You could buy your own lockbox and leave the key with the next door neighbor. But that's pretty silly. Why not just give your neighbor the door key? And what if that neighbor isn't home to unlock the lockbox (or your door) when first responders arrive?

The solution is a program fire departments have. Contact your local fire department and inquire about their lockbox program. The box is about 2.5 W x 4 L inches, and mounts over the front door. In addition to a house key, the box can hold medical information about the occupants, emergency notification numbers, and pet information.

This box opens with a combination. The combination is in the 911 information system, so the dispatcher just does a data search on the address and provides the combination to the first responders while they are en route.

The cost varies with the locale. You may undergo sticker shock, until you weigh the pros and cons rationally. For an elderly person who really should not be living independently but insists on doing so anyhow, every minute counts during a fall and a fire.

The drawback, of course, is a government organization will effectively have a key to your home. But in an age where federal agents no longer need a warrant to batter down doors or shoot through walls, access to a key isn't a security problem. In fact, if law-breaking agents do force their way into your home (using the illegal antiPatriot Act as an excuse) and you survive to file a suit against the agency, they will have to explain why they used force instead of the key. Maybe you'll get a free cup of coffee from the bailiff.

You'll need to be consistent and disciplined in three areas:

1. Diet.
2. Exercise.
3. Posture.

Most people get all three of these wrong. Some are mostly right on one or two, but fail with a third. The reason people get these wrong is they want to take the easy way out. It's easier to just be unhappy with the way something is than to make a serious effort to change it, especially if doing so means making changes to your habits.

What many people do now is redefine "too fat" so they can delude themselves about the problem. What you need is a real solution.

Shortly after turning 50.

Here's a quick overview of a lose the gut program that works for everyone who commits to it. Your job is to think about the points, make a good plan, and follow your plan. Consistently.

Diet:

• Six small meals a day. Not five. Six. Not "smaller," but small.
• Eat on a schedule, and be consistent about it. Try to space those meals evenly throughout the day.
• No bread or other wheat flour products. These are fattening, so eliminate them entirely.
• No sodas, fruit juices, corn sweetener, or other endocrine modifiers. These are super-fattening.
• If it comes in a container, it is probably fattening. Read labels carefully and critically. That goes especially for things like "yogurt," which typically are contaminated with high-calorie flavorings.
• Eat only foods that are nutrient-dense. Go heavy on the greens.
• Olive oil is good; don't try to go fat-free, as that will make you fatter.

Exercise:

• No situps. They don't work your abs much, and they can cause posture problems.
• Do front squats or sissy squats or duckwalks twice a month. If your legs and abs aren't burning during the exercise, you aren't doing it right.
• Hanging leg raises are good. But it's the squats that will work the most magic, here.
• Do an intense workout 5 or 6 days a week (split routine, not the "full body" foolishness), to promote your general fitness and proper hormonal environment. You can't exercise just your belly and expect it to look good.
• Each day, deliberately do a few gut-sucks. Suck in your gut, really hard. Exhale and hold it for several seconds. Be sure to take a rest day from this, once a week. Twice, if you think you need it.

Posture:

• Don't let your gut hang (distend). This is a common mistake that stretches the tendons and makes you look fatter than you are. Throughout the day, stop to see where you are with this. Correct as needed, by flexing your abs to pull your gut in.
• Head up, back straight.
• Practice pulling your shoulder blades back. You can do this while driving your car or sitting at your desk. Check yourself for "shoulders back" every time you rise from a chair.
• Stand tall. Always. No slouching.

At www.supplecity.com, you'll find plenty of informative, authoritative articles on maintaining a lean, strong physique. It has nothing to do with long workouts or impossible to maintain diets. In fact:

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

This eNL is supported by sales from www.mindconnection.com. Please shop there, as appropriate.

Is there a person who causes you stress? Maybe an IRS agent or an obnoxious coworker? If so, you can keep that person from getting you down by remembering that the atoms in his/her body were probably once (or twice) part of a dinosaur turd. Many people act like that's still the case, so just laugh when they do.