Mindconnection eNL, 2020-01-19

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

Item 1. BMW joined the Responsible Mining Initiative, a movement with the goals of protecting workers and the environment. Perhaps other carmakers will follow; BMW is the only one doing this so far.

Item 2. Peru is planting one million trees to protect Machu Piccu from mudslides and fires. This also somewhat offsets the devastation of the Amazon rainforest, but only a little bit.

Item 3. JetBlue is now using renewable fuel in its jets. The product, made by Neste (not to be confused with Nestle), is called "Neste MY Renewable Jet Fuel" and over its lifecycle it has an 80% smaller carbon footprint than fossil fuel jet fuel. You can read about Neste renewable fuels, here: https://www.neste.com/companies/products/renewable-fuels

Item 4. Proponents of gun bans continue to suffer from "reality defeat". For example, despite their nonsensical alarm about "gun violence" (a violent gun has yet to be discovered), homicide rates around the world are falling. Guess where they are falling the slowest? That's right, in "gun free" (criminal safety) zones like south Chicago; this is just as any rational person would predict. Guess where those rates are the lowest? That's right, in places where the basic human right to self-defense is respected by the government. In fact, the "First Amendment friendly" areas of the United States have some of the lowest homicide rates in the world while many of the "gun free" areas have murder rates higher than the kill rates in active military battle zones. And Elizabeth Warren wants more "gun free" zones in the USA.

• The Photo Backup Stick is an all-in-one picture and video backup and storage tool. It contains special software to back up from Windows computers, Mac computers, iPhones, iPads, iPod Touch, Android phones, and Android tablets.
• Keep your pictures safe without the need for expensive and complicated cloud services.
• Supports almost all picture and video formats.
• Backs Up from Windows. Run the Windows backup app to find and backup from the computer, storage device(s) connected to the computer, or even phones or tablets connected to the computer.
• Backs Up from Mac. Run the Mac backup app to find and backup from the computer, storage device(s) connected to the computer, or even phones or tablets connected to the computer.
• Backs Up from Androids. Plug the stick directly into Android phones or tablets and use the Android app to back up to the stick without using a computer.
  Backs Up From iPhones and iPads. Backup from iPhones & iPads by plugging them into a Windows or Mac computer and run the backup app from the stick.
• Removes Duplicates. Each photo and video will be backed up only once. Every time you backup, only new photos will be backed up. The Windows app also allows you to remove duplicates just in case you have multiple copies that have been backed up.
• You can back up from the default locations or select to scan the entire computer or specific drives or folders.
• You can also connect phones and tablets to the computer and back them up at the same time.
• The Windows app allows you to remove duplicates even if they were backed up from other devices. It also allows you to easily copy your backed-up files to a computer or drive.
• Choose to keep your photos organized in the same folder structure they are on your computer or have them saved to one single folder on the stick.
• For Android phones and tablets, download the free Photo Backup Stick DC app, plug the stick into your device using the included adapters, and back up directly to the stick without using a computer.
• For iPhones, iPads, or iPod Touch, plug your device into a Windows or Mac computer, unlock the screen and trust the computer, and run the backup app from the stick. All your pictures and videos will be backed up directly to the stick for safe keeping.

The Photo Backup Stick works on Windows 7, 8, or 10 as well as Mac OS 10.12 or newer. For direct connection to Android devices, the device must support OTG connections of USB drives. If OTG is not supported, devices can be backed up using the Windows or Mac apps. For Apple iOS devices, you must connect the devices to a computer using a data cable and use the Windows or Mac app to backup.

Buy yours now.

Yes, poor food choices and other factors are lowering raw IQ. But not enough to explain the stunning stupidity we encounter all the time. The stupiderati generally have ample brain power, they just don't use it. Note that I define "normal" not in relation to the population (e.g., the majority would be by default normal), but in relation to "undamaged" or "fully utilized."

Normal people:

• Pause to think. It's a deliberate action.
• Focus on the task at hand. Poor attention means poor results.
• Recognize frustration, panic, and other reactions to difficult situations. And then move on to dealing with that situation instead of staying panicked or whatever.
• Speak in a coherent manner, using words correctly. The goal isn't to be heard, the goal is to be correctly understood.
• Ask questions.
• Don't assume.
• Use logic, instead of jumping to conclusions.
• Don't believe everything they hear or read.
• Make a reasonable attempt to verify facts.
• Take a learning approach instead of an arguing approach.
• Don't confuse statements of fact with value statements. A fact is what it is.
• Appreciate feedback (as opposed to the stupiderati, who mindlessly spew justifications instead of fixing what's wrong).
• Watch little or no television.

That's a partial list. Why don't you spend a little time adding to it, by thinking of how your own behavior differs from that of stupid people? Congratulate yourself on getting these things right. It's also good to do a "check" and see if something you're doing is leaning in the wrong direction. This way, you can avoid being infected and can thus maintain your high effective IQ.

This affects your finances in multiple ways. The vast majority of Americans, for example, have poor access to food (and thus to health care). In fact, over 70% of American school children are "hunger insecure".

Few of us can grow enough of our own food to meet our needs, so we rely on grocery stores. Increasingly, grocery stores are stocking fake food instead of the real stuff. However, there are some ways to make things better. For example:

• Join or form a food co-op in your area.
• When socializing, politely note the difference between food and poison. If you  bring food to a party or other occasion, make sure to give it a good presentation. When I bring food, I pay close attention to this and people who would not ordinarily eat food try it and like it.
• Encourage local stores to keep selling food. One way to do this is to buy food there yourself, but on the rare occasion you see a fellow shopper in checkout with real food say something positive about that.
• When in the checkout and the clerk asks you what something is, don't just say, "That's bok choy." Say, "You are holding bok choy, which is a better source of calcium than milk is."
• Don't go along to get along, lead. If you host a small party, serve food. This actually used to be a custom. Bring it back. Instead of some poisonous pastries, serve something you create from real food. For example, you can cut apple slices and sprinkle them with cinnamon. Or make toothpick sheeshkabobs using slices of eggplant and spaghetti squash.
• If the produce looks bad, let the produce manager know that. Limp bok choy, rotten spinach, and wilted romaine are not acceptable. People see food in this condition and don't buy it; they go to the "inner aisles" and load up on that stuff instead.

Granted, you are not going to overcome decades of brainwashing, deceptive advertising, and chemical addiction so that everyone in your area switches over to real food. But you will sway a few, and they will sway a few, and momentum will grow. Eventually, the effort will restore the balance. People who have been fat, sick, and tired while on the non-food diet remember vividly the difference that a few days of eating real food made and they usually don't go back to being fat, sick, and tired.

It would also help to contact your (mis)representive in Congress about the food issue. It is morally reprehensible that "our" government subsidizes sugar, wheat, and corn (all things that make people fat, sick, and tired) but does not make any effort to see that poor families have sufficient real food available to them. If, for example, the food stamp programs allowed their recipients to buy as much actual food as they wanted (but none of the fake stuff), that alone would restore balance so the rest of us don't face food shortages resulting solely from bad public policy.

https://blog.malwarebytes.com/explained/2019/11/explained-juice-jacking

Photo taken a couple of weeks after my 59th birthday.

Note that the information provided here will likely conflict with the "fad of the moment" and other unsustainable, unproductive ways of looking at health and fitness.

Article appears below.

See my climbing videos here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCyb67uKOxW_TsG6BVPbBIQ/videos

Rest. Recuperation from training requires time. You also need to get adequate sleep every day.

There is some debate among exercise fanatics and gym rats as to whether it's better to do a full body circuit routine three times a week or to do a split routine 5 or 6 days a week. Among serious athletes, there is no debate. We all do a split routine. The main reason is this approach allows the targeted muscle group many days to recover. So you can hit it hard and get that big testosterone spike. Next training day, while that group is resting, you hit another one and get yet another big testosterone spike.

Anyone who tells you they work legs three days a week, and you will hear that from the full body circuit advocates, has no idea what a good leg workout is. You simply cannot recover fast enough to work legs three days a week. People who attempt this overtrain while also getting poor stimulation of the adaptive response due to not getting in a real leg workout.

So your first line of defense in getting enough rest is that you break your training up in a manner that permits sufficient recovery time. If you don't, then instead of elevated testosterone you will have elevated cortisol. Your immune system will be impaired, your muscle mass will plateau well below where you want, and your fat level will stay well above where you want. All while promoting bone weakness, low energy, and reduced sex drive.

Your second line of defense is to get adequate sleep. The vast majority of people are sleep-deprived; this is a major factor in the stupidity epidemic. Sleep deprivation also impairs hormonal system health, in addition to causing other health problems.

Simple tip here, if you nod off quickly (a clear sign you are sleep-deprived). Just go to be 15 minutes earlier than you usually do. Keep this up until your sleep deprivation is at zero. If that doesn't seem to happen, then go to bed even earlier. Stay consistent. Also, note that the lunacy of clock change is going to be here soon. If you're forced to participate in this harmful practice, start going to bed 30 minutes earlier now. You'll zero out any sleep deprivation and have more time in the morning. Then when lunacy time occurs, you have to adjust by only half an hour rather than a whole hour.

Some more tips for getting adequate sleep:

• Make your bedroom dark at bedtime. This means no phones charging, no night lights, and no light coming in through windows.
• Make your bedroom quiet at night. This means no ringing phones after bedtime. What else do you think it could mean? Act on that.
• Go to bed at the same time every night. You have a circadian rhythm. Respect that.
• Have a "wind down" time before bed. Engage in some ritual that relaxes you; that does not mean answering e-mail or working. Reading a book, meditating, stretching, and petting a cat (or dog) are all good ways to relax. Having a fight with your spouse about how the dishwasher was loaded, not so good.
• Wash your sheets every week. If you shower in the morning instead of the evening, then you should probably change sheets every other day.
• Ensure you have high quality bedding. Thin, cheap sheets do not make for a good night's sleep. You can't go wrong if you spend a nice chunk of money on high-end cotton sheets; go to a specialty store such as Bed Bath & Beyond. Before going, learn how weave, thread count, and other factors determine the quality of a sheet. Higher thread count isn't necessarily better. That is, an 800 count sheet is not necessarily better than a 600 count sheet. However, 200 count is grossly insufficient. I have found high quality sheets in the 400 count to 600 count range. Most of mine are 600 thread count. Don't buy anything with polyester in it.
• Wash your sheets in hot water, then let them air dry. Use less than 1/4 the recommended detergent, else they won't be soft. Don't use "fabric softener"; it's just rancid fat and petrochemical perfumes.
• Turn your mattress at least once a month; wash your mattress pad while you are at it.

Your third line of defense is to identify two or three things that bring you stress. Then, rather than stressing out over them, pick one that you can do something about. Make and execute a plan. For example, Bob at the office annoys me by chewing ice cubes. I get worked up about this on my way home from the office. I can choose to change my attitude and refer Bob to my dentist, perhaps even arranging with my dentist to provide Bob with some kind of incentive such as a free exam with any cleaning. Or maybe I hate it that my neighbor does not rake up his leaves. Solution? Rake them up myself or pay a kid $20 to end the problem for me.

Once you have knocked these items out, identify another one or two and repeat this. Eventually, you will not have a single chronic stressor in your life. Yes, there will be things you don't like. But you can change your attitude toward them so that you are not adding stress on top of what you don't like.

For example, the 1040 tax costs the federal government more than it brings in. Much more. The idea that it somehow "funds the government" is stupid. Filing the tax forms takes a lot of time and puts innocent people at risk of being attacked by the Institute of Reprobates and Sociopaths. You can choose to stew over this, or you can choose to just accept it as a cost of being in society. Think of it as being similar to changing a baby's diaper or cleaning the litter in a cat box. Not the most pleasant job (unless you are one truly weird person). But you just do it and get it out of the way.

So much for defense. Don't forget to go on the offense, too. Look for ways to bring joy into your life. Doing small acts of kindness for others, for example. Do things that will help you be happier, rather than focusing on things that just bring you pleasure. Pleasure stimulates the dopamine receptors and there's not a benefit to your hormonal system. Happiness, by contrast, stimulates serotonin and there is a big benefit to your hormonal system.

Upcoming installments:

How to manage hormones naturally, Part 5
Consistency. Don't skip meals and don't skip workouts. Skipping arguments is fine, however.

How to manage hormones naturally, Part 6
Mental focus. People who lack focus tend to fail at everything, rather than succeed at anything. This can become depressing. Concentrate on the task at hand.

How to manage hormones naturally, Part 7
Positive mental attitude. That glass isn't half full, it's overflowing!

How to manage hormones naturally, Part 8
Supplements. How to sort scams from the good stuff.

How to manage hormones naturally, Part 9
Chemicals to avoid. Many commonly-used chemicals adversely affect endocrine health.
 

How to manage hormones naturally, Part 10
Handling social pressure. Rather than use willpower to fight social pressure from the disease-embracing, health-averse culture, follow these tips to use social pressure to your advantage.

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

Sometimes, this is true: "Junk is something you throw away three weeks before you need it." But you are better off eliminating clutter than putting up with it, so toss the junk.

Hospitality is making your guests feel at home, even if you wish they were.