Mindconnection eNL, 2021-02-21

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

1. The ever-honest and hard-hitting Candace Owens is considering a run for POTUS in 2024.
    
2. The Socialist Party has been hemorrhaging entire demographics that were loyal to its predecessor organization (the Democratic Party). All the craziness, violence, duplicity, and deceit is really turning people off. And now with an aggressive economic destruction and job elimination program under way, the Socialist Party will be even more out of favor. The charade elections have allowed the Socialist Party to get to where it is, but they have so stretched credulity and violated the system that they are unlikely to get away with it the next time.
    
3. If Nutcase Nancy's maskless hair care doesn't end her career, this ought to do the job: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaQU7yljBr8&feature=youtu.be. Our nation without Nutcase Nancy in power? That would be good news for sure.
    
4. Of course, we all know by now that the latest sham impeachment of President Trump, like the first, was a flop. The good news behind that good news is the socialists made a big spectacle of it and it backfired on them. Traditional Democrats have been defecting from the Socialist Party ever since the insurrection got violent this past summer. The more the Socialists accuse their victims of insurrection, the more they alienate people they propagandize at.
    
5. As George Soros enjoys his third term as POTUS via his sock puppet Joe "Brainless" Biden, one of his priorities is to emulate the policy that all socialist dictators (Hitler, Pol Pot, Hugo Chavez) have implemented prior to sending their country into a social and financial abyss. Yep, disarming the population. He can have Brainless sign into law any foolish "OSHA for criminals" measure he wants, but it won't be followed in places like Missouri. In that state, feds who violate the Second Amendment will be arrested. Read the full story here: https://www.theblaze.com/op-ed/horowitz-missouri-county-authorizes-arrest-of-feds-who-violate-second-amendment
    
6. Socialism has claimed, amongst its victims, free speech in America. In Poland, formerly behind the Iron Curtain, they are taking free speech very seriously. Read the full story here:
   https://www.theepochtimes.com/poland-announces-13-5-million-fines-for-tech-giants-engaging-in-ideological-censorship_3702950.html

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For the same reason some people are physically fit well into old age and for the same reason some people enter adulthood physically strong and yet get stronger over the years.

That reason is exercise. Here are some exercises you can do for your brain:

• Work crossword puzzles. I do the ones in the AMAC magazine, the Mensa Bulletin, and the Epoch Times. I also keep a crossword puzzle book in one bathroom. I don't do these all the time, but it's enough to provide some stimulation and entertainment.
• Work jigsaw puzzles. A neighbor used to keep a puzzle going on a table for a few days until it was done, and do 2 or 3 per year. Some stimulation, there. When her elderly mother mother moved in, they took turns adding a piece as they'd walk by. And a puzzle was nearly always in progress.
• Use a jigsaw (and other tools). Build or modify something. I love my jigsaw, partly because it allows me to make nice cutouts in doors (for cat doors, both interior and exterior) and walls (to add return vents). But there are so many things I can do with it. Having a nice collection of high quality power tools gives most of us a new form of vision. We see new possibilities.
   
• Ask for a "stretch me" assignment at work or come up with your own. It's a great way to exercise your mind while also increasing your value to your employer and to prospective employers.
• Do your own repairs, assuming you learn correct techniques first and have the right tools, materials, and work space. Anything you do with your hands helps build kinetic intelligence.
• If you don't have a hobby, consider starting one.
   
• Use online resources to learn a language or take a history course (even if you design your own) or engage in some other form of study.
• Avoid conversations about the weather, sports teams, and other pointless blather. Find smart interesting people with whom to have smart, interesting discussions.
• Become a process improver. Take some task you do at home, and think about how to do it more safely, more efficiently, more accurately, and/or with less mess. It is amazing what you can come up with. Using some input from my significant other, I was able to reduce my cookie baking time by about half through a series of process improvements and step reductions over the course of a year. You can apply this at work, and get so much done you will amaze your boss.
   
• Commit yourself to a complicated sport. For me, climbing fills the bill. I have to solve a three-dimensional puzzle in real time, changing my solution based in kinetic feedback. It's a very brain-intensive sport.
• Become a (non-violent) freedom fighter. Work at crafting a clear, concise letter with solid arguments in defense of our former country or some aspect of it such as voting or freedom or rule of law. Send it to your misrepresentative in the House and to your two senators. If you've got video skills, consider writing a script for a video doing something similar and start your own YouTube channel.
• Try a different weapon. Most people have a single caliber of pistol. If you have a .38 and have become comfortable with it, rent a .22 or a .44 caliber and now you have a whole new shooting experience for your brain to adjust to. Why rent instead of just swap with someone else? Well, you can do that also. In fact, negotiating that is another way to exercise your brain!
   
• Volunteer to teach. Perhaps you can teach a music class at an assisted living center or perhaps you can teach self-defense at a shelter for battered women. Teaching can be a mental challenge.
• Form a group to work on some big social problem, such as the stupidity epidemic or the rise in the number of people who have come down with libtarditis (related conditions, so why not tackle both?).
• Buy a college textbook and pretend you are taking a class. Or buy an SAT preparation book and work all the exercises.

The more different ways you challenge your mind, the stronger it will become. As a bonus, these challenges tend to be very enjoyable.

This time, the game is a little different. Under the Soetoro reign of error, there was the counterforce (most of the time) of the House of Representatives and (all of the time) of the Senate. These were not always effective, but they helped get us through the gauntlet of aggressive attacks on our economy and our society.

Today, both the House and the Senate are ruled by radical socialists. They "cancel" anyone who does not agree with them. The Supreme Court, under Chief (in)Justice Roberts, may as well not exist for all the good it does. Elections no longer exist, because as 2020 proved the Socialists can fabricate as many votes as they need and their candidate for POTUS does not even have to campaign.

This is a bleak scenario. Will it change after the mid-term elections in 2022? Not likely, since there now is no mechanism for holding "elected" criminals accountable. But even if it did, two years is a long time. Look at the damage George Soros, now in his third term (after a four year break) using his sock puppet Joe "Brainless" Biden has managed to do in his first two weeks.

We can choose to complain about this and engage in wishful thinking that this will soon pass, but a more prudent approach is to dig in and protect yourself.

The inflation tax is the single largest tax most people pay, partly because it taxes all existing dollar-based assets not just income or expenditures (it taxes those, also). So let's start there. How do you protect yourself against inflation? First, for those who do not have a firm understanding of economics, let us define inflation. It is the devaluation in currency caused by increasing the money supply against the basket of goods and services produced by the economy, or it is the devaluation in currency caused by not shrinking the money supply against shrinkage in the basket of goods and services produced by the economy.

The socialists have gone on a spending spree, which means they will also have to go on a stealing (taxing) spree. Inflation will occur as they "print more money" but it would happen anyhow because the basket of goods and services produced by the economy will shrink significantly due to sharply higher energy prices, more idiotic regulations (instead of good regulations), and a further eroding of our culture (unable to get productive workers).

You can't fight inflation directly, but you can reduce its effects. Some ways:

• Barter. Start your own small circle of people to barter with. Instead of paying to have your pet stay in a pet hotel while you are away on yet another job interview, have your neighbor watch your pet in exchange for your dusting and vacuuming their house. Or cleaning their toilets or whatever they would find helpful. Or even watching their pet. Don't keep track of who owes whom or try to make "equal" exchanges. Just reach an agreement to help each other out.
• Fix. Rather than spend money to replace something, can you fix it? If you know how to use JB Weld, for example, you can save significant money over time.
• Repurpose. I save my old plastic coffee "cans" because they come in very handy. For example, I bought a 75 lb bag of garbonzo bean flour and needed a way to store the flour free from moisture and pests. Where do I keep all these "cans" as they accumulate? In an old clothes hamper that I had glued back together many times in 30+ years. I bought a new hamper and use the old one for storing plastic tubs such as those coffee comes in.
• Ask for discounts. Most people never do this. I have found that if I ask for a small discount (relative to the total price), the seller usually agrees. I saved $100 on my new washing machine simply by asking, "Do you think you could get the manufacturer to drop your cost by $50 and then you pitch in another $50? If you can make that happen, I will buy today."
• Shop on eBay. The vast majority of people shop on Amazon, mostly due to the convenience. Amazon charges fairly high fees to its sellers. But eBay charges significantly lower fees and provides advantages Amazon cannot. It is dominated by small sellers to whom you can make an offer. The system is set up so sellers can automatically accept or reject offers based on the dollar amount they enter into the listing. So an item is $99 and the seller sets it up to accept an offer of $95. You make that offer, you get that price.
• Take care of your things. Put them away when not in use. Treat them with kindness. For example, never touch the paint on your car with your bare hands; this damages the paint. Door handles are there for a reason, use those instead of te door frame. Rotate your tires (this is easy to do yourself), and you nearly double their useful life. Clean tools before putting them away. Dry knives right away, preserving their edges longer. Etc.
• Check your furnace filter once per week. Put it on your calendar, and just do it. Replacing your furnace blower involves a service call and an expensive motor, and the total can be rather ghastly. The thing is, that motor should never fail. The only reason these fail is they overheat due to the dirty furnace filter.
• Think about ways to reduce your overhead and your various financial obligations. The less money you "must" lay out each month, the less financial stress you will have.

For a longer-term solution, you will have to get involved in efforts to fight socialism. That's a dangerous path, but for those of us with honor it is the only path.

Here are some more tips:

• Obviously, being firearm proficient is a primary security measure. Worried about having to replace that expensive carpeting after dispatching an intruder? The good news is in most encounters, the law-abiding citizen never fires a shot. I have personally been in that situation. I held five perps at gunpoint until the police arrived.
• Use cameras on your exterior of your home, especially the front door area. Get a system that works with your smart phone, if you want convenience. You can use the footage on the SD card of the central unit to help the police catch the criminal. Many perps look directly at a camera, they simply cannot help it!
• Replace builder-grade doors and locks with better versions. Nobody is going to kick through a fiberglass door, and such a door has great thermal properties. Have a pro install it and beef up the jamb while doing so.
   
• Have packages delivered to a secure pickup location, not your home. UPS offers a free program, check it out at www.ups.com
• Avoid filling out surveys. These not only waste your time, they often mine you for information about yourself.
• Use NoMoRobo or a similar service to block most con artists from calling you. Sure, you won't fall for their line of crap but the fact they can reach you at all is a security risk.
   
• Use camera covers on your laptop and smartphone when not in use. The inexpensive stick-on versions work well.
• Work on your defensive driving skills. If you haven't taken a course, either do that or obtain training via video or textbook. A great tip here, is this. Always make sure you can see where the tires of the car in front of you touch the pavement. If you can't see that, you are too close. Easy to get carjacked that way, plus you can't pull out if there's any other kind of emergency.
• Carry a pig sticker or other weapon in your car and have it readily available for quick deployment. If someone reaches in or forces you out, use deadly force.
   
• Don't have your children or pets on antisocial media, doing so just advertises great treasures you would do nearly anything not to lose.
• If someone cuts you off in traffic or behaves badly in some other way, you are not going to convert that person into an excellent driver by making rude gestures. But you could unleash a total maniac on yourself. Memorize the license plate, then pull over and call 911 to report this person. Pulling over means they are continuing on and you are safely behind, plus you can focus on the call without endangering others.
• Keep your drive and walkways shoveled in winter, and your grass mowed and trimmed in summer. This shows that whoever lives at your place is home.

The photos tell you something important about my credibility.

Statistics on 60th birthday, when these photos were taken:

• Height: 6'0"

• Wingspan: 6'1"

• Weight: 148lbs

• Bodyfat: Unknown, but well below what the Tanita scale says is 5%.

• Waist: 29

• Chest: 48

• Arms: 15

• Quads: 20

• Max bench press: Unknown, but I do three sets of 12 reps with 150 lbs to warm up on chest day

• Training days per week: 6

• Type of training: Split routine, heavy on supersets

• Meals per day: 7 on training days, 6 on rest day

• Percent of diet that is processed food: 0

• Amount of meat, wheat, corn, or soy eaten annually: 0

• Number of eggs eaten per day: Between 8 and 10

• Cholesterol: In normal range, on low side

• Last illness: 1971

• Last workout missed: Spring of 1977

Here are some tips for having powerful lungs:

Protection

• Don't smoke. This seems obvious, but remember that a cigar, cigarette, or joint does not have an onboard computer that takes input from cameras and other sensors to determine who is actually smoking it. Nor is there a means for it to render itself harmful only to the one smoking it. Thus, "secondhand smoke" is the same as firsthand smoke. Don't even go where people smoke.
• Don't vape. There is no control over what goes into vaping liquids, and generally they cause severe damage to the lungs.
• Don't cook food on high heat, especially indoors. This rules out popping popcorn indoors. Always use a cooking oil appropriate for the temperature. Many people believe that using olive oil to pop popcorn is healthy, but it is very unhealthy because of that oil's low flashpoint. Peanut oil has a sufficient flashpoint, or you can use a reasonable amount of organic butter.
   
• Wear the necessary PPE and vent properly when working with silica dust (or any dust, including sawdust), varnishes, and other things that can (and will) permanently gunk up your lungs.
• If wearing a mask to comply with the Covid panic, make a point of breathing through your nose. Your nose has an electrostatic filter and a preheating chamber. Your mouth does not. Mouth-breathing during the Covid panic mask requirement is making many people sick.
• Change PPE often, change your mask/gaiter every couple of hours.
   
• Don't use standard laundry detergents. These are full of toxic chemicals. If you could not safely drink your laundry detergent, it is too toxic for washing your clothes, bedding and towels.
• Eliminate standard cleaning products from your home, especially those containing chlorine bleach. I have vinegar and baking soda, not this other stuff.
• If you have a cat, don't use scented litter. The perfume is toxic to you and to your cat. To eliminate odor, feed your cat only products that contain no corn or wheat. These two poisons the the primary ingredient in most products falsely sold as "cat food". If your cat is eating suitable food and still has smelly stool or urine, your pet is sick and needs veterinary care. Yet another reason not to cover up one stench with another.
   
• Go through your home, office, automobile, and other spaces where you breathe to find and remove all perfumes / fragrances.
• If you buy some new plastic item of any size, let it sit in the garage or outdoors to emit toxic fumes for a few days before you bring it into the house.
• Don't buy particle board furniture. Not only is it of low quality, it emits formaldehyde (very bad for your lungs).
   
• When using paints and varnishes, take seriously the need to ventilate. Plan the job properly and do it quickly, then get out of there. If ventilation is not going to be quite adequate, purchase a charcoal canister respirator and wear that during the work. You can find these at any home center and at most hardware stores.
• If grinding metal, always don a paper respirator (or better) before doing the work.
• When fueling your automobile, avoid breathing in the fumes. They contain several powerful carcinogens plus other chemicals that do not play nice with lung tissue.

Increasing pulmonary capacity

• Engage in HIIT, regularly. This stands for High Intensity Interval Training. I'm a climber and this sport pushes my lung demands to the red line, forcing them to adapt. Gasping is common among climbers just coming off a hard problem. Very, very taxing because the fuel burn is massive. I also train with weights 6 days per week and do sets back to back without rest. For example, dumbbell presses followed immediately by French curls. Talk about a heart rate jumper! Another HIIT activity I do is a long set of slow side kicks, alternating sides. These work the core pretty hard and get my heart rate up.
• Set aside time to breathe deeply. Inhale slowly through your nose until you can't inhale further, hold for a bit, then exhale. Repeat several times.
• Engage in exercises that expand the rib cage. Posture exercises, dumbbell flyes (done Arnold's way), and certain back exercises do this.

The list is by no means exhaustive. I hope it helps you to breathe well.

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

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station. This appears to be the thinking of many people. They stay busy, but don't get any real work done. Dare to be different!