Mindconnection eNL, 2011-09-18

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• 01SEP2011. Industry Week says that US auto makers U.S. automakers posted double-digit gains in new car sales in August. Chrysler's 31% increase was the largest, but GM gained the most in total unit sales. Part of the reason US automakers surged ahead is Toyota got slammed so hard by the horrific events in Japan. Consequently, GM has passed Toyota in car sales and thus regained its former title of #1 automaker in the world.
   
• 02SEP2011. Seems there's interest in Indiana, as that state keeps showing up in our good news column. Inside Indiana Business reports that Sabre Manufacturing, LLC is expanding operations via an investment of just over $640,000. Unlike the job-destroying Porkulus, this will actually create jobs (25 of them).
   

Here's another good news item. Not so much in the economic sense, but in the sense of vastly reducing human suffering. No, sorry, I can't tell you the IRS has been abolished. While that would vastly reduce human suffering, and would be done if we ever had a law-abiding, or even sane, Congress, there is another development I want you to know about. See this video: http://www.thatvideosite.com/video/the_skin_gun.

The mobile, self-contained, hand-held Quicktionary scanning pen allows you to scan, define, translate, and hear printed text while on the go. Easily fits in your pocket or purse. With an easy to use touch-screen and icon-based menu, it provides onscreen translations (of French and Spanish text) and American HeritageŽ English Dictionary definitions. It reads the scanned English text aloud (earbuds included).

But how can we explain a person who is "hard of reading?" I encounter this frequently. As you can tell, my writing is clear. You don't have to try to guess what I mean, due to poor grammar, poor word choices, clumsy sentence construction, or poor composition. Yet, I correspond with people who seem not to have read what I wrote.

We see this on a larger scale, for example the many federal programs and agencies that are prohibited by the plainly-stated 10th Amendment but exist anyhow.

And think of how many times you've written to tech support about an issue you're having with their software or hardware. Typically, the response ignores the question you asked or the problem you stated.

The problem of being "hard of reading" is widespread. People with this problem, because they do not properly intake information do not reach correction conclusions. They do reach conclusions based on their impression of what they read rather than what they actually read, which is really no different than having an extremely low IQ.

How can you avoid having this condition? The main problem I see with people who are "hard of reading" is they filter everything according to preconceived notions. Anything that conflicts with their preconception is simply invisible to them. So, start with that issue and treat all information fairly. Don't try to "absorb" it or determine how it fits as you read it. Just let it say what it says. Adopting this same practice in conversations is also good; we call that "listening."

Some more tips:

• Forget labels. If you start off with "This person is a Democrat" (or whatever) and filter that person's writing through that lens, you are already editing the material before you read it. You're making certain assumptions that may not be true for that person. We are all complex, and we all hold views that conflict with a given label someone decides to stick on us. Read what's there, not what your label says should be there.
   
• Don't extrapolate "many" to mean "all." A literate person who writes "many" doesn't mean "most" or "all." Why this mistake gets made, I have no idea. But it's quite common.
   
• Seek clarification of errors, rather than just wing it and translate them. If the other person writes, "I plan to impact our customers," don't call the police to report the planned violent assaults. Some people misuse "impact" to mean many other things it doesn't mean. Ask the writer to please explain.
   
• Don't fill in the blanks where the statements are vague. For some reason, many people think it sounds more "educated" to avoid stating something in clear language. In contract law, the liability for vagueness falls on the drafter of the contract. Apply this principle, rather than taking that liability onto yourself. Respond with, "Do you mean X? Or do you mean Y?"
   
• Where someone presents an apparent opinion as fact, maybe it is fact. Ask the person for the source. For example, people are fond of saying "Most people believe...." Ask them how they know that. Maybe most people really do believe X. And maybe that fact is not relevant to the conversation, but the other writer tossed it in there. Rather than argue about an irrelevant detail, ask for substantiation. Also ask how it's relevant.
   
• When you are trying to understand the long e-mail or Word doc sent to you but it's all a jumble, you could do the standard practice of skimming and excerpting. But in so doing, you are likely to miss the most relevant points and completely misunderstand. Rather than do that work and still be wrong, tell the writer you want to understand but the way the information is organized does not make that possible. Ask the person to boil it down to what's important.

A reading method that you might try, time-permitting, is this:

• Scan the document visually. Note the headings, if there are any. Read the first sentence of each paragraph; a moderately literate person will use the rest of the paragraph to support or expand on that sentence. This pass at the document gives you its general feel and a sense of scope, purpose, and message.
• Read the document from start to finish. When done back in the days when all documents were paper, you would use a pen to mark key ideas or details as you went.
• Now determine what the author's main point was or main points were. Mark where these are in the document.

Of course, this method is too tedious for e-mails. But you can adapt a similar approach, if you are planning a reply:

• Read the e-mail.
• Copy the entire message to a new space above where it is.
• Reply to each paragraph, reading it again as you go. Delete all but the first line, if there's much text. Your comments should follow the writer's as you respond. I like to mark the original text with a carat to make it easier to read my reply.

Both approaches have you reading the material once so you understand it and then reading it again so you don't misunderstand it. But neither approach will work if you're mentally trying to catalogue the information as you go.

See www.insidejobfilm.com.

1. Emergency number. The Emergency Number in Europe for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an Emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked.
    
2. Hidden battery power. Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time.
    
3. How to disable a stolen mobile phone. To check your mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits on your phone: *#06#. A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. If your phone is stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.
    
4. Free directory service for cell phones. Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: (800) FREE411 or (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now.

Every spring, people decide to slim down for summer. The typical American gains 10 lbs over the winter holidays and loses a bit less than that by the end of summer each year. With time, the difference accumulates into high levels of body fat. We've come to expect people's bellies to grow over the years, but that isn't the way it has to be.

Do you think it's better to look good and be healthy, or to look bad and be unhealthy? It's a choice. Which way do you choose?

If you choose the latter, as most people do, then you'll fill your shopping cart with processed foods and over-fill your plate at each meal. And, you'll skip meals--eating only 3 to 5 per day and getting into a dangerous, fat-enhancing, endocrine-modifying catabolic cycle.

Age 50.

But if you think it's better to look good and be healthy, you'll stick with the habits that make that happen. You'll do that all year, so that when the spring slim-down time comes you're barely cutting back on portion size because you honored your body over the holidays and so don't have much (if any) extra body fat to lose.

Yes, there is a tradition of gorging on endocrine-modifying "foods" over the holidays. Yes, many other people abuse their pancreas as if full-blown Type II Diabetes and bowel cancer can't happen to them even though this eating misbehavior causes such problems. But you don't have to do what they do.

And don't fall for the "all things in moderation" trap. You can't jump in front of an oncoming train in moderation. It's fatal. And people who intend to "moderate" their intake of sugary confections while facing a huge supply of same nearly always fail at that task.

Rather than "cut back" on sugary confections, eliminate them altogether. This eliminates the need to fight a sugar craving, making it far easier to keep your eating on track. By sticking to six small, nutrient-dense, calorie-sparse meals each day, you'll look good all year round. And you'll eliminate a huge number of risk factors for disease.

If others criticize this sane behavior or cajole you to "join in the fun," ignore their remarks. You do have a right to protect your looks and your health, regardless of what other people say or do. You don't have to justify it.

But what about the folks who might feel embarrassed due to the good example you're setting and they aren't following? Isn't good eating behavior rude during the holidays? Handle that now, rather than waiting until others make it an issue. Do that in a positive way. Share your enthusiasm for actual food. Send other people recipes for nutrient-dense meals that taste great. Have people over for lunch and prepare something fit for humans, to set the tone for later. Talk it up in phone conversations.

One reason people engage in insane eating patterns is they just don't think about it. They react, rather than plan. You can stimulate people to think about what they are putting into their bodies. And you can do that just by sharing real food that has been prepared right (for good presentation and taste). Lecturing others about what they are doing wrong won't work, but making them salivate over something nutritious you've described can work wonders.

Waiting until holiday gatherings and then saying no to the poison that everyone else brought (out of the expectation that such poison is what's expected and "normal") makes other people uncomfortable. The key is to get others in the right mindset well ahead of those gatherings.

Years ago, I lived in a neighborhood in which the neighbors met about twice a month for a potlatch lunch or supper. What was unusual is there was seldom any junk food at these. No cakes, chips, hot dogs, etc. It wasn't because of any rules anybody set up. It was because the folks who organized it did exactly what I prescribed above. I just happened to already be of that mindset.

If the current ratio of sane to insane food choices were reversed in our supermarkets, the need for medical services would decrease by well over 90%. That is, if nearly everyone rolled up to the checkout with a cart full of fresh produce and other good food but empty of all processed grains, smoked meats, and assorted other poisons, very few people would ever need treatment for chronic disease.

Imagine how that would affect our medical insurance and other costs associated obtaining medical services. Imagine how much less pain and suffering there would be. Make that a reality, at least for you. Start now.

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.