Mindconnection eNL, 2017-09-03

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

Item 1. Fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce, and many areas of the world now face a potable water crisis. More is to come, and it's not good. But there is some good news. Remember graphene? How could you forget! As reported in the August 2017 issue of the Mensa Bulletin, researchers are now using carbon nanotubes that can reclaim nearly 100% of the water from brine (the old technology was far less efficient and far less effective). This process can even reclaim fracking fluid.

Item 2. The ubiquity of plastic in the environment poses severe challenges to wildlife. And that's just one aspect of the damage this causes. As reported in the August 2017 issue of the Mensa Bulletin, a couple of guys developed a catalyst that can turn the most common plastic wastes directly into diesel fuel. This method is not only scalable, it can run as a continuous process rather than a batch. The current generation of machines can fit on a flatbed truck, which means they can be taken to problem sites without the need to haul the trash to a central location.

Item 3. A radical new natural gas power plant could capture carbon at nearly no cost. Read the full story, here:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608755/potential-carbon-capture-game-changer-nears-completion

Item 4. Big thanks to Howard for supplying this item. A Royal Navy sailor who served on nuclear ‘Hunter Killer’ submarines has used his military know-how to develop a new ‘green’ car device to slash motorists’ fuel bills and harmful emissions.

Former Leading Seaman Brian Sheard, 49, has switched from Cold War warrior to civvy-street inventor to create – in his own garage – a smart box inspired by the way submarines make their own air to keep crews breathing during long missions underwater.

His resulting compact hydrogen fuel-cell box reduces car emissions by up to 80 per cent and offers fuel savings of up to 20 per cent, according to independent tests.

Read more / see video: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/cars/article-4812942/Brian-Sheard-invents-CGON-cut-motorists-fuel-bills.html

Note that I haven't verified this story, but I built and raced a 500HP car that used bottled nitrous oxide to double its horsepower to 1,000HP. Both numbers were verified. Doing the same thing with hydrogen would give a heck of a lot more efficiency. So to me this has the ring of truth, at least on the surface. It's not some screwy perpetual energy scheme, but is instead something I can relate to from experience with another "add a gas" technology.

I personally own one of these and just love it!

If you've used an Android phone or are using one now, step up to the Android-OS iTRAVL2.

• Extreme durability: Completely waterproof, shock proof, and dustproof.
• Works with any GSM carrier for voice and data plans; in the USA: Tracfone, Consumer Cellular, T-Mobile, etc.
• Voice translator: Translates anything you say.
• Photo translator: Snap a photo of almost anything and have it translated to your language.
• Travel guide: Packed with reviews, info, and images of international locations.
• Massive battery: Lasts for five days between charges. That's right, five days.
• Perfect for military use, security specialists, tradesmen, hikers, linesmen, farmers, Emergency Service Personnel, mountaineers, cross-country skiers, or anyone traveling in remote areas; also for those on or around water; perfect for fishing boats, use in the rain, or surf.

See the full list of features here: https://www.mindconnection.com/product/ECT-IT2-GLX31.html

Just click on the Features tab.

Just consider what goes into making one. Do you have a conscience? Then read this article and pass it along:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4764208/Child-miners-aged-four-living-hell-Earth.html

Making decisions without thinking it through and looking at the whole picture is how we get decisions we regret having made. I think it's just as bad when we let others suspend their brainpower and make thought-free decisions for us. Libtards specialize in not thinking and not looking at facts, and we all regret the decisions forced on us by libtards.

I used the electric car / child slavery connection to drive (no pun intended) home the point that lazy decision-making (usually) has severe consequences.

The key to getting brainpower-based decisions is to ask questions. Taking the electric car, as an example:

• What will be used to generate the electricity? Coal? How much more mercury do we want to pump out of coal-burning plants into the ocean food chain?
• How will the charge be stored? In lithium batteries? Where do we get lithium from? What are the labor and environmental issues there?
• It takes copper to build the motors for electric cars. How much copper will be sucked out of the limited supply for this purpose, and what will that do to the prices of other things?
• What about the overall energy efficiency? Under our current electricity supply model, there are huge losses before the car will even be charged.
• What about the load on our generation and distribution systems?

First-Time Home Buyers Guide: Buying With A New Job

https://themortgagereports.com/19085/first-time-home-buyers-guide-buying-with-a-new-job-gina-pogol

If those goods are delivered to their home, another factor comes into play. The high jobless rate means that many people other than politicians and IRS gang members are stealing for a living. Increasingly, they steal packages left on front porches. They actually follow delivery trucks around.

Some solutions:

• Discuss the problem with your employer, and suggest that a nice employee benefit is the ability to receive packages at the work place (and pick them up at lunch or after work, not during regular working hours).
• Hire a neighbor who works from home, is retired, or in some other way is likely to be home and can sign for your packages. You pay $5 at the end of each month and use your neighbor's address as the delivery address. Make sure that you've signed a "signature required" form for your name at that address with each carrier.
• Rent a box from The UPS Store, Mailboxes, Etc, or a similar outlet. They'll safely keep your packages until you can arrive (within a reasonable number of days) to pick them up. They can text and/or e-mail you when something arrives.
• Inquire with a local small business that you frequent. See if they will accept packages for you for a small fee. This solution is a longshot, but it's worth asking if you think they might go for it.

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you are probably sleep-deprived.

Supposedly, there's a three legged stool of health:

• Proper diet.
• Proper exercise.
• Sufficient sleep.

I think there's more to health than that (for example, stress-coping skills), but sleep is definitely critical to good health and to athletic performance.

While we do not fully understand what sleep does, we do know what happens when you do not get enough. Just for example (part of a much longer list):

• Your IQ drops. The greater your sleep debt, the bigger the drop. Some people are chronically sleep-deprived and have created such a huge sleep deficit that they effectively have a negative IQ ("dumber than a box of rocks").
• Your immune system is compromised. People who "enjoy" the disease lifestyle like to denigrate people who eat right. When the right-eating people get sick, the correlation gets mistaken. It's not that their eating right was pointless, it's that they did not also get enough sleep.
• It's hard for you to focus. You make more mistakes, take longer to do things, and your work is below par. Your weight training, when you're in this condition, will also suffer.
• You feel tired. So you lack the energy to do much more than go through the day on autopilot.
• Recovery from workouts takes much longer and is less productive.

Clearly, we need to respect our need for sleep. Our culture (such that it is) tends to be not sleep-agnostic but sleep-antagonistic. Tell  a friend you're going to bed at 2100 on a Friday night because you start work at 0700 each day and you are likely to get some negative remarks back.

But the thing is, you set your sleep clock by force of habit over time. You can't change it from one day to the next. If you give in to your friend's peer pressure and stay up two or three hours past your bedtime, you'll be tired for several days. In fact, this is exactly why the "Monday blues" occurs.

You should awake refreshed and ready to welcome the day. Ready to get after it and get things done. But typically, this doesn't happen until the sleep debt is slept off Friday morning. Then it starts all over again.

Top photo taken 16SEP2016, just days before 56th birthday; bottom photo taken 3 days after 56th birthday

For only $10, you can buy the Mindconnection Sleeplessness Causes and Cures course. That could be the best money you ever spent. Now that the plug for it has been made, here are some tips:

• Go to bed at the same time, regardless of the day of the week. Get up at the same time. If, after several days, you discover this schedule isn't providing enough sleep then go to bed earlier.
   
• Have a "sleep plan." If you're adequately rested, it will take you a while (probably 30 minutes) to actually fall asleep. Factor the extra time into deciding when to go to bed. Also plan on what you will focus your mind on. If you just let your mind drift, you can easily raise your stress level by thinking about your problems. Some people like to imagine a fantasy; for example, they are given special powers and are able to help mankind by wiping out the IRS. Whatever works for you, do that.
   
• Make your room dark. The darker the better. Use insulated blinds or similar to block street lights, etc. from getting into the room. Remove all light sources (except a clock, so you know when it's time to get up but now you can buy clocks that shut off the display until a preset time).
   
• Do not keep a phone in the room. No radio, television, or anything else electronic. The only exception is an air cleaner. Buy a HEPA air cleaner that is silent. Most are noisy, and most also have lights on them. Take your time to find one that's suitable. Mine has lights, but I cover the control panel with a box.
   
• Change bedding each week. Change the mattress pad monthly, and flip/rotate the mattress then also.
   
• Wash bedding in hot water and use less than 1/4 the recommended amount of laundry detergent. This will kill dust mites and result in cleaner sheets. Excess detergent reduces cleaning, and stays in the fabric to make it feel stiff and itchy.
   
• Do not use fabric softener. It doesn't actually soften the fabric. It just coats it with rancid fat and petrochemicals, both of which are irritants.
   
• Never dry bedding in the clothes dryer. Yes, you can spin on low heat for a bit and then use the air tumble dry. But don't dry it in there. The reason is that damages the fibers. Sheets that are not damaged feel luxurious. Damaged sheets irritate. Air dry your sheets, and do not iron them. I have several sets of sheets and rotate a different set in each week. This allows me to dry the just washed ones without feeling I have to hurry.
   
• Evaluate your bedding. Is it a good cotton in a high quality weave? If you don't know the answer, it's probably "no." In that case, start building your bedding collection. Buy a new set every other month until you have several sets. A good set is going to set you back probably $300 or more, thus the idea here of every other month.
   
• Ensure you have excellent bedding. Go to Bed Bath and Beyond or a store of similar quality (e.g., Kohl's) and shop for high-end sheets. Ask if there is someone who can help you, someone who really knows sheets. Offer to leave your phone number for that person to call you if s/he isn't there at that time. Don't get too caught up in the thread count; it just means a denser fabric. You might want 400 count for summer and 800 count for winter, or maybe just get 600 count for each set of sheets you buy. Good sheets that are properly cared for should last several decades. I have sheets that are 20+ years old and they are still like new. So spend the money to buy good sheets once, instead of buying cheap sheets over and over.

Some tips few people think of:

• Don't have arguments. Disagreements are fine, it's how we benefit from our different abilities and backgrounds. But arguments include anger or other negative feelings. This negativity is hard to dissipate, and it interferes with sleep.
   
• Eliminate processed food from your diet. These "foods" disrupt your endocrine and other systems, putting your entire body and also your brain out of whack.
   
• Eliminate clutter throughout your home. Clutter signals chaos; it's noise. You need to quiet all this down, else your mind is still dealing with the noise well after bedtime.
   
• Turn lights down as bedtime approaches. Light signals your "sleep system" to shut off. You are trying to turn it on.
   
• Engage in some kind of pre-sleep ritual. Maybe read a book (with just a reading lamp on). Or let your cat get on your lap for stroking and affection. Come up with a way to wind down for half an hour or so before bed. It can be something productive, it just can't be something stressful or in some other way stimulating. One exception to the no stimulation rule is sharing coital bliss with your loved one, which is well-known to provide a perfect segue to sleep.

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

President Lincoln did not send federal troops to Fort Sumter (and thus begin the War Between the States) to free the slaves. He did it to preserve the union. He even said that if preserving the union meant freeing no slaves, then he would free no slaves.

Slavery became an issue due to expediency, long into the war not at its outset. Lincoln did not want European powers entering the war. He even maintained the useful fiction that it was a "civil" war rather than a war of secession (Grant's memoirs never referred to it as the Civil War, either).

The Southern states seceded because the banksters and corporations in the north were stealing from them (sound familiar?). Among other things, the northern gangstas were violating procedure in the House and Senate to get their way. The South produced the raw  materials, the North had the manufacturing. And the North wanted those raw materials on the cheap. That was the crux of things. Not slavery.

General Lee ended the war by surrendering the Confederate Army. At the beginning of the war, Lincoln had asked him to lead the Union Army but Lee respectfully declined and said he was a "Virginian first" and had Virginia stayed with the Union he would have accepted the position.

Lee was widely admired on both sides. And he was not, as some people assert, defending slavery.