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Mindconnection eNL, 2016-07-03

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In this issue:
Good News | Product Highlight | Brainpower | Finances | Security | Health/Fitness | Factoid | Thought 4 the Day

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1. Good News

Item 1. In a 4 to 4 tie, the Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings that enjoin the "Obama" mis-administration from moving forward with executive amnesty for 4.5 million illegal immigrants with U.S.-born children. That is barely squeaking by, folks. The bad news is there were 4 "Justices" who believe that taking a huge step down the slippery slope of ignoring immigration laws on a massive scale won't have hugely negative consequences. The lawlessness permeates every level of what pretends to be a government.

Item 2. The good news is 72% of Americans, according to a recent survey, support the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PCLAA). The bad news is that 28% don't support it, meaning a significant number of people believe if you don't like the laws you can just harass people who engage in lawful commercial activities with frivolous lawsuits until they go broke.

In this particular case, the commercial activities are part and parcel of specific Constitutionally protected civil liberties. Sadly, there are people who somehow justify suing an innocent party for the crimes committed by a guilty third party.

Laws similar to PCLAA have been passed to protect other groups engaged in lawful activities. For example, one such law was passed to protect teachers who follow school policy from being sued personally for following those policies.

Item 3. This may not resonate with most of you, but it's still good news. For a long time I've been watching the industrial corporate attitude toward safety, and it has been trending upward over the past few years. The latest "big thing" is addressing the "near miss." Employees aren't punished for coming forward and admitting mistakes, in this context. The goal is to learn from those mistakes. Get them out in the open and fix what's wrong.

The CEO of one company noticed a big drop in the number of near misses being reported, and expressed concern. The subsequent investigation revealed it's not a laxity in reporting causing the numbers to drop. It's a safer workplace combined with greater safety vigilance among employees and deeper understanding of what hazards are and how to look for them. That is really good news.

 

2. Product Highlight

Mindconnection, LLC sells in the major marketplaces. We have a Top Seller Plus rating on eBay, so in this issue we'll again point you toward one of offerings there. It's a repeat of what was in the last issue.

Mini Gadgets BB2Outlet Bush Baby Hidden Camera Wall Outlet

(We're a Mini Gadgets Authorized Dealer)

  • Records 1280 x 960 quality video.
  • Motion detection.
  • All plugs fully functional.
  • Resolution: 1280 x 960 at up to 30fps.
  • Viewing angle: 72 degrees.

This wall adapter hidden camera is perfect for just about any location. Its built in camera on the front is positioned so that, inside this ordinary looking object, it can be hidden almost imperceptibly in any room. That makes it perfect for a nanny cam or to provide extra home security.

It sports full color VGA quality video, and full motion detection, and up 64GB Micro SD Cards (allowing you to store over an entire day's worth of video).  Storage Consumption: ~1GB consumed every 30 minutes.
 

Mini Gadgets BB2Outlet Bush Baby Hidden Camera Wall Outlet

Mini Gadgets BB2Outlet Bush Baby Hidden Camera Wall Outlet

You know you want it.
Buy from us and save!
 

Easy to use! Turn on with the flip of a switch and use the standard Bush Baby remote control to turn on continuous recording, motion detection recording, or snap a photo. Compatible with Windows up to Win 8 and Mac.

Features

  • Records VGA quality video.
  • Motion detection.
  • All plugs and USB ports are fully functional.

Technical Specs

  • Video Resolution: 1280 x 960 at 30FPS.
  • Recording Modes: Continuous and motion detection.
  • Viewing Angle: 72°.
  • Storage: External MicroSD Card.
  • Storage Consumption: 30min/GB.
  • Time/Date Stamp .

Includes

  • 1 x BB2Outlet.
  • 1 x Remote Control.
  • 1 x Instruction Booklet.
  • Compatible with Mac and with Windows up to Windows 10.

 

You can buy from us with confidence. We've been making online customers happy since 1997.

3. Brainpower tip

It makes sense that if you want good information about a topic, you should ask an expert. But what is an expert? That is, how do you know that they know what they are talking about?

Consider the springtime ritual of trying to lose the ten pounds of fat gained over the holidays (bad food choices made under the mistaken idea it was necessary to make those choices "in the holiday spirit"). Or just the situation where those pounds have appeared and added up, and now you want to get rid of them.

How do you shed the unwanted fat? Ask an expert!

  • Nutritionist. Since you are what you eat, and you gain fat one mouthful of food at a time it make sense to ask a nutritionist. Or does it? Many states have licensing requirements, but what do these people study and what are the criteria for the license?

    I'll give you a clue, here. On this topic, they don't necessarily know what they are talking about. Typically, they are parroting "weight loss" recommendations from outdated and misguided sources. Need proof? Just ask any shredded, drug-free body builder to look at the recommendations from a couple of these "experts." There's no comparison.

    Also, note the language used. If you want to lose a lot of weight fast, get your legs amputated. Works like a charm, every time. On the other hand, if you want to lose fat that is an entirely different subject. How can I alter my body composition so the ratio of healthy lean tissue to fat improves? That isn't necessarily weight loss. It's always fat loss.
     
  • Dietitian. Pretty much the same thing as the nutritionist.
     
  • Medical doctor. In the typical program, they get a single course on nutrition and most of it is wrong.
     
  • Government experts, such as those in the FDA. These are the people who gave us the obesity-inducing Food Pyramid. 'nuff said.
     
  • Shredded bodybuilder. That depends. Ryan, who is a title-holding, drug-free body-builder, went to a show to ask two brothers about their program. As he walked up to them, he noticed they were eating Gummie Bears. Lots of them. In the ensuing discussion, they raved about a black market drug they use. Ryan, who has had a long and mutually beneficial relationship with his liver, decided that approach wasn't for him. To look at these guys, you would think they have a clue. But they don't, and any advice from them is not worth listening to.
     
  • Skinny personal trainer. This person is thin and under-muscled, due to not eating enough and not training properly. Anyone can starve down to a thin look, but that's neither healthy nor pleasant. Many "thin" people, by the way, actually have a high fat to muscle ratio. You want it the other way around.
     
  • Young personal trainer. This person still has a great hormone situation. What s/he actually knows about nutrition is probably just the basics and will not serve the "lean body" goals after age 35.

These are just a few examples of "weight loss" experts. There's nothing that makes them experts, other than mere appearances. Ask them, for example to explain the physiology behind something they advise. Odds are they can't do it, because they don't know.

That is not to say anyone with these titles and certifications is clueless. The point is the title and certifications do not reflect the proper knowledge of this particular issue. That said, I know an MD whose nutritional knowledge makes him my "go to" guy when I have a question.

And this brings us to the concept of how to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to experts. I have found that you can be successful here if you determine whether that person has a deeper understanding of the subject. It need not be a complete understanding, as in knowing all about that topic (a claim by the "expert" to know it all is actually a red flag that BS is being spewed).

What do I mean by "deeper?" Here are some signs of deeper understanding:

  • You want more than the typical simplistic explanation or prescription. You want the how and why, not just the what. A person who can't give you this lacks an expert's level of understanding.
     
  • Sometimes, you can determine expertise just by watching. For example, as a climber I look for better climbers by watching how various people execute moves or techniques I struggle with (I don't look for route completion, as it can be done by cheating). Then I ask them for their input or coaching. In many cases, we are talking nuances; a journeyman trying to develop a master's expertise. And that's another clue; you need enough knowledge to be able to understand what to look for and why. Otherwise, this technique is probably not going to work for you.
     
  • Consider reputation. If Michael Jordan gave his advice on how to pass a basketball, would you not consider his reputation as proof of expertise on that subject? Sometimes, I hear weight training advice that directly contradicts what was said by 6 time Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger. Maybe it's just me, but I had this whacky idea Arnold knew a thing or two about body building. And when the same "expert" also contradicts 8 time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney, I'm not so sure that marginally muscular person is really an expert.

    Yes, these two champions took steroids, but they outdid thousands of other steroid takers and they can explain the how and why with no problem. Besides, steroids won't give you that balanced physique. Plenty of steroid takers have bloated bellies and asymmetrical shapes. Lee Haney says today's "champs" are disgraceful. The steroids they take have made them far larger than he ever was, but just compare their photos to his and you can see why Mr. Haney says that.
     
  • Consider accomplishment (similar to reputation) and experience. My friend Howard, for example, ran a company that produced audio speakers. He was intimately involved in the design and production of these products, and the target customer for most of the line was the discerning audiophile.

    So if I ask him a question about speakers, I accept the answer as coming from an expert. However, he doesn't let it go at that but explains to me the how and the why. This, he feels, will educate me on that tiny portion of the topic and prevent me from merely parroting something. I agree with his position.
     
  • Pay attention to the "walks the walk" factor. Somebody who drives a beater that is always breaking down might work on cars a lot, but if he knew what he was doing would he have all those breakdowns? I remember in an e-mail based forum that another member challenged me on nutrition. She made it clear she had studied the subject extensively. She contradicted just about everything I said. That told me something; she had to LOOK like someone who did not understand nutrition. I got verification when someone who had met her informed me she weighed over 350 lbs.
     
  • Think about this person's training and education. Someone with a business degree can tell you much more about business than someone without such a degree, all else being equal. Someone with business experience and success running a business, however, would really be the expert.

    You don't get that success without training and education, but nobody said it had to be formal. I'm not dissing the formal education, I have an MBA; I'm just saying it's not the only way. If you visit that person's home or office and find book after book on business topics, that person talks about this or that business mentor, and that person has done well running a business, you can bet that person is educated in business.

I think you get the idea, here.

Formulaic responses are another sign that your "expert" isn't. There's a difference between simple and simplistic. Here's an example to illustrate:

A real expert on a topic can break it down into (relatively) simple terms so a learner can understand. For example, in climbing I tell new climbers to put their toe, not their arch, on the hold. I then show them how the toe of their climbing shoe is designed and how easily I can flex the arch but not the toe. Simple explanation. Yet I have shown a deeper understanding of the topic. I don't need to also explain to them that having the toe instead of the arch on the hold allows you to pivot your foot; they don't need to know that yet so I don't give the information at that time.

Someone who doesn't know why to use the toe might give a simplistic recommendation to "always use the toe." But there's a move called the heel hook, and it's essential to some situations. I don't always use the toe. What I use depends on what is needed. Some days, I might execute 60 or more heel hooks. And there's also a non-toe technique called edging....

Before you trust an "expert," verify that person actually is an expert. Many licenses and certifications test for the wrong things to be enough evidence in this regard. Most dictionaries define "expert" as someone who has authoritative knowledge. Common synonyms for "expert" include accomplished, talented, skilled, and adept. All of which point toward that person's possessing a deeper understanding.


4. Finance tip

The federal "government" reported that the May job data were the worst in six years. This should not be surprising, considering the massive--and highly successful--effort made by Team Soetoro to destroy the American economy. Since Soetoro first degraded the White House with his illegal presence there, he and the spendaholics in his camp managed to double an already crippling national debt.

The federal job data are always a few orders of magnitude rosier than reality. If, despite their best efforts to massage the data and lie about the problem, they still come up with something like this then you know it is truly bad.
But why is it so truly bad? In a word, Obamageddon. Everything that illegal alien has done since his starting two years as a Senator has been iconic of horrendously bad economic policy.

Even before he took office on that fateful January day in 2009, he set out on a jihad to double our debt. In 2008, he and Nutcase Nancy reworked GW's 2009 budget. GW's budget had a $250 billion deficit plus the $150 billion of TARP money Congress added to it.

Soetoro and Nutcase tripled that total for a new 2009 budget that had a $1.2 TRILLION debt. And Soetoro said he "inherited" that from Bush. At that point, the Alien in Chief should have been arrested (it was already proven by that point he was not qualified to be POTUS).

The trillion + dollar deficits repeated enough to double the national debt. And that has resulted in a doubling of a few other things. Such as the number of people on permanent disability, the number of people on food stamps, and so on down the line.

We, the American Sheeple, need to stop pretending that it's somehow "racist" to object to a crime spree of this order. Even if you detest half-white Arabs like Soetoro who share no heritage with most American citizens, it's his behavior not his ethnicity that is the issue.

We also need to stop pretending that, despite the shafting we get from the Demopublicans alternately with the Republocrats, it will somehow be different this time. Any group of criminals that mistreats the rest of the country this way, consistently over a long time, is not going to suddenly lift a finger to solve our problems.

Unless we boycott the Republocrat/Demopublican con game, guess what? We will be conned and shaken down every time.

So in this upcoming fake election for POTUS, we have presumably Hillary and almost certainly The Donald. The prospect of the former being POTUS is frightening in the extreme, leaving The Donald as the "lesser of two evils." But what have you really accomplished? A vote to protest against one dangerous candidate by selecting another who is apparently less dangerous is still a protest vote. And if you dig just below the surface, surprise surprise, you find The Donald and the Clintons have ties going way back. This is a choice?

The failure of most people to actually choose is why this game continues and nothing ever gets done to put the country back on track.

Vote Libertarian. It is the first step in the very, very long road to recovery. Assuming the bridge hasn't already washed out. And that's a very iffy assumption with the debt level now this astronomically high.

We also need to start making noise about giving Soetoro his third term, this time in Guantanamo where he belongs.

And indicting Hillary? That should have been done years ago. This is one reason I put "federal government" in quotes. There really is no governance, it's just crime conducted by the ungoverned and unaccountable.

The crime spree will continue, and it will continue to erode the financial condition of each one of us, unless we do something about it. Your single largest cost is the crime conducted in lieu of a functional, lawful federal government. You want to be better off financially? Then you can't turn a blind eye toward this problem.

And it's not that you need to "think different." You just need to think. Really think through this fake election and the two non-choices trotted out by the criminals who run things and steal from us. If you're already doing that, thank you. Now get others to do the same!


5. Security tip

Below is an excerpt from Nicholas Sarwark, Chair of the Libertarian National Committee, issued 13JUN. He was referring to the Orlando massacre, where not a single victim was armed. Keep the basic concepts in mind when considering what your pseudo-elected politicians are doing.

Government can neither protect us from people who hate, nor can it provide the love and support of people who, by nature, care for their fellow man. But government can greatly reduce the likelihood of mass shootings by getting out of the way of people who want to defend themselves and others.

Without missing a beat, old party politicians recycled their calls for more failed and deadly policies.

Democrat Barack Obama calls for more deadly restrictions and prohibitions on the rights of peaceful, responsible gun owners to stop shooters and minimize their impact.

The Libertarian Party is the only political party calling for sensible, serious policy change that would reduce the frequency of mass shootings as well as minimize the damage they do.

Virtually all mass shootings happen in “gun-free” zones. Regardless of the ideology of the shooter or the type of weapons used, the common link is that the event occurs where responsible gun owners are prohibited from carrying arms for self-defense.

  • The Pulse nightclub was a “gun-free” zone.
  • The Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California was a “gun-free” zone.
  • The Bataclan nightclub in Paris was a “gun-free” zone.
  • The schools in Newtown, Connecticut and Columbine, Colorado were “gun-free” zones.
  • Fort Hood was a “gun-free” zone.

In each of these mass killings, the government prohibited people from exercising their life-saving right to self-defense.
Government-mandated “gun-free” zones disarm those who want to defend themselves and their loved ones.

“Gun-free” zones create killing fields for mass murderers who, by definition, do not care what the law says.

Self-defense is a fundamental human right. Every person has a right to defend herself and her loved ones against someone who would do them harm. When government takes away the right of self-defense, it is violating a fundamental human right and endangering its citizens.

The choice of whether and how to defend oneself is a profoundly personal one. The government should not mandate that every American carry a gun for personal self-defense, nor should it mandate that every American must rely on police for protection.

The beauty of the right to self-defense is that it keeps the criminals guessing as to who has a gun and who does not. This deters mass shooters from even trying.

The Libertarian Party supports freedom of choice, and calls for the government to stop denying our human rights.
Our thoughts, prayers, and love go out to the friends and families of those slain or harmed in Orlando. We owe it to them, and to all citizens, to do what we can to stop tragedies like this in the future.

How many more mass shootings will occur before we demand that our government stop violating our fundamental human right to self-defense?

No more government-mandated “gun-free” zones. No more government-created killing fields where madmen can slay innocent people.

No more!

6. Health tip/Fitness tips

Don't waste those reps. When working out, most people waste almost every rep they do.

In the standard gym workout, the pattern goes much like this:

  • One set of eight. Last rep was a little tough.
  • Second set of eight. Had to speed up the reps, because it was harder to move the weight.
  • Third set of eight. That last rep was really good!

This was a waste of 23 repetitions. Out of 24. In other words, this workout was only 4% effective. Is that a passing grade to you?

Why not make every rep count? Yes, you can do that. And I will tell you how. First, a little background.

As an experienced climber, I help newbies learn the sport. They all make the same mistake I did starting out, and that is holding with a death grip.

This tight squeeze can last only 15 seconds (on average, varies by person), after which the muscles are depleted. People who are using this in place of good balance and footwork will, invariably, fall off the wall after 15 seconds.

Lose weight, be strong, burn fat, gain muscle

 
What happens is you deplete your glycogen then move through the aerobic stage into the anaerobic stage. With very high intensity, that happens quickly (with moderate intensity, you can stay in the aerobic stage for hours). That "death grip" is using the maximum contraction. When you are in the anaerobic stage, which is very inefficient for the body, you pile up lactic acid and it reaches a level that stops the muscle from contracting.

Now, apply this fact to weight training. If you take 15 seconds to perform that first rep, guess what? You've depleted the muscle. This assumes you are not trying to go "full range of motion" with a single exercise, and it assumes that all fibers are under tension during the rep.

I'll keep saying 15 seconds, but do note that it varies by person. You have to find your own threshold. It will be pretty close to 15 seconds, so start there and adjust slightly as needed.

When training with weights, you get that same lactic acid buildup the "death grip" newbie climber gets in his forearms. But you get it in the target muscle(s) and and it triggers the adaptive response.

Getting that response is the whole point of weight training, else you are just pushing weight around and not gaining anything from it other than short-term calorie burn. If you stay aerobic for a considerable time you will encourage capillary growth (and that's beneficial), but you don't stimulate the adaptive response that spikes your testosterone and does all those other great things that bodybuilders want to have happen.

This doesn't mean you should pile on the weight to get the maximum contraction. This is a mistake many people make. It is not a mistake 6 time Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger made in his training. Watch the movie Pumping Iron and you'll see.

If you mentally focus on contracting the muscle during that rep, you'll go through the first two stages to the anaerobic stage and that rep will count. It's important to note that each individual fiber must be under tension for the full rep, something that does not happen if you try to do the full range of motion with a single exercise or if you throw the weight.

It happens if you focus on contracting the muscle rather than on moving the weight, and you go very slowly.

Assuming you did a good job of going slowly on the first rep, you're now ready to do the second rep. You can't do the second rep as slowly, because your muscles can't recharge in that short time and don't have 15 seconds of energy to give you.

So focus on contraction and keep the motion going slowly. Do however many reps you can. For me, this is typically only 2 or 3 more (depending on the exercise). You want a total time under tension of somewhere between 25 and 45 seconds; this varies by individual and can vary for an individual from day to day so pay attention to what you're doing. If you need a "rule of thumb" reduce the weight, get a total time of 40 seconds, and see how that works for you.

Now I also hear "experts" say you need to warm up before lifting and they mean run on a treadmill or skip rope. Some advise to do a full body circuit as your warm-up. None of these people can explain how you're supposed to have enough energy to then work out with sufficient intensity.

If you have not watched the movie Pumping Iron, do so. You will notice that nobody skips rope or runs a treadmill before lifting. And look at the results. Arnold won the Mr. Olympia title (the movie was about the run-up to that) thatq year and Lou Ferrigno it later and then went on to play The Incredible Hulk (with Bill Bixby) on the television show of that name. All without running once on a treadmill.

Those guys don't "do cardio" because they don't need to. Just getting to the anaerobic state hugely taxes your heart and lungs, if you're doing any of the large compound exercises that 8 time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney says are essential (squats, for example).

Even after 39 years of training without missing a single workout (a few years longer, in total), I still get dizzy working out this way. It's not because of any cardiovascular weakness, either. I used to run Cross Country and I have an oversized heart and oversized lungs for my body weight. How oversized? According to results obtained in Cleveland, I'm about average for someone on their professional football team (the Browns, at the time the testing was done).

And still, my heart pounds when I'm weight training. It's all about intensity.

And also notice in Pumping Iron how Arnold squeezes the muscle instead of throwing the weight. He doesn't use the slow rep method all the time (and when he does, not as slowly as I do it). But if you watch how he was training you can see he's getting the same effect. He does this by the force of his mind, making his muscles contract isometrically. He almost doesn't need the weights.

The point is to deplete the muscle into the anaerobic phase. If you have extreme control like Arnold did and can isometrically contract to get there, go ahead. For me, the super-slow rep gets the job done. For most people, that's the way to go.

You could also get the effect by using a very heavy weight under perfect control using perfect form, as Casey Viator did. This method, however, is risky to the joints and is also something only a genetic freak can really do. Don't delude yourself into non-thinking that using too much weight will get results. It will retard results and almost certainly cause chronic injury over time and maybe acute injury in the moment.

A variation of this slow rep method is to use your first set as a warm-up or pre-depletion set. You don't take the full 15 seconds for that first rep, but you do go slowly and stop the set when you feel really pumped and you're getting "the burn"; this will typically be around the 4th or 5th rep. Some people find success with, instead, using this set for volume. They do a really light weight at moderate speed and crank out 20 or 30 reps. The idea either way is to get the blood flowing without draining you of much energy.

After your warm-up set, rest about 30 seconds and start your second set. Now you've got maybe 10 seconds of energy available for that second rep. You shake, you tremble. Your heart races. Do the next rep the same way. Maybe you can do a fourth. Wait 30 seconds, and crank out another set. Maybe you can do 5 or 6 sets, but pay attention to your ability to contract. If it's pretty much gone and you're just pushing the weight with momentum there's no point in continuing. Notice the short time between sets? Think about why that works.

Training in this manner has several advantages, including the fact it reduces your total training time. Instead of doing 23 wasted reps across three sets, you can do 15 to 18 solid reps across 5 sets. And instead of only one rep that "might" stimulate the adaptive response, you get 15 to 18 that DO stimulate it. With the standard method, you are much more prone to injuries of the joints and tendons, too. Basically, the standard method has no advantage whatsoever over the 15-second first rep method. The reverse is decidedly not true.

If you have not trained this way before, try it. You will notice a huge difference on your very first workout. I suggest reducing the weight you use by 25% before attempting this.

Stop wasting your reps, and get results!

 

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.

7. Factoid

The average human dream lasts 23 seconds, slightly longer than the average American job during Obama's first four years.

8. Thought for the Day

How much thought do you give to the idea of thinking? Think about it....

 

Please forward this eNL to others.

Authorship

The views expressed in this e-newsletter are generally not shared by criminals, zombies, or brainwashed individuals.

Except where noted, this e-newsletter is entirely the work of Mark Lamendola. Anything presented as fact can be independently verified. Often, sources are given; but where not given, they are readily available to anyone who makes the effort.

Mark provides information from either research or his own areas of established expertise. Sometimes, what appears to be a personal opinion is the only possibility when applying sound logic--reason it out before judging! (That said, some personal opinions do appear on occasion).

The purpose of this publication is to inform and empower its readers (and save you money!).

Personal note from Mark: I value each and every one of you, and I hope that shows in the diligent effort I put into writing this e-newsletter. Thank you for being a faithful reader. Please pass this newsletter along to others.


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