Friday, August 30, 2013

Today's Internets, PT II - "Interesting that when people survive a horrific incident where others are killed..."

 "In 2008, President Obama, when he was a candidate for President, had this question-and-answer exchange with the Boston Globe: 
"Q. In what circumstances, if any, would the president have constitutional authority to bomb Iran without seeking a use-of-force authorization from Congress? (Specifically, what about the strategic bombing of suspected nuclear sites — a situation that does not involve stopping an IMMINENT threat?)

OBAMA: The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. "As Commander-in-Chief, the President does have a duty to protect and defend the United States. In instances of self-defense, the President would be within his constitutional authority to act before advising Congress or seeking its consent." 

Given that not even the most ardent interventionists for Syria contend that the bombing is necessary for US national security, how can a military attack on Syria without Congressional approval possibly be reconciled with that position? When the same issue arose with Obama's war in Libya in the absence of Congressional approval (indeed, after Congress expressly rejected its authorization), State Department adviser Harold Koh was forced to repudiate Obama's own words and say he was wrong back then. Who will play that role this time? "


No.





That's some good casting, right there - James Spader to play villain in next 'Avengers': "James Spader will play the villain Ultron in the next Avengers flick, Avengers: Age of Ultron due out May 1, 2015. Spader will play the powerful robot villain in the film to be written and directed by Joss Whedon, who made the first Avengers in 2012." 

"It is a photograph not easily forgotten. A black state trooper peers down at a tiny white boy in a crisp white Ku Klux Klan outfit as the child touches his reflection in the trooper’s riot shield. Photographer Todd Robertson readily admits he captured the moment by simply being in the right place at the right time while covering a Klan rally in Gainesville for the local newspaper nearly 21 years ago. “The picture sparked a lot of interest and conversation then,” Robertson said. “That’s what a picture is supposed to do.” Now social media has given the image new life. After the picture appeared over the last year on photo blogs and in Facebook posts, an article by The Poynter Institute, a journalism training organization in Florida, brought the iconic image even more attention."
"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was able to locate the officer, Allen Campbell, through the Georgia State Patrol. By interviewing and searching public records, the AJC was able to locate someone who may be the boy, now close to 24 years old, and his mother, but phone calls and emails left for this story were not returned. Did state trooper Allen Campbell think of the boy after that day? “No, I really didn’t,” he said. “I didn’t even know the photo had been taken until someone called to tell me it was in the paper.” Campbell recalls the day the photo was taken as just another work day. As the Klan rally unfolded, Campbell said his mind was on the Labor Day cookout he was missing. Not race relations. “I was ticked off. It was the last holiday of the summer. But here I am at a Ku Klux Klan rally in Gainesville, Georgia, protecting the rights of the Ku Klux Klan,” he said...

“I didn’t even see the boy at first,” said Campbell, a youthful 61-year-old with an easy laugh. “I was too busy thinking about my weekend being ruined. I looked down to see what on earth could be bumping on my riot shield.”

...Over the years, Campbell covered numerous racial protests around Georgia, including the infamous Forsyth County demonstration in January 1987 when 75 marchers led by civil rights activist Hosea Williams were met by some 500 Klan members and sympathizers who overwhelmed police lines. “Rocks and bottles were flying,” Campbell said. “We were not prepared. We didn’t have riot helmets. We didn’t have shields. I was focused then on what was a dangerous situation.” Campbell also worked the following weekend, when 20,000 people, including Coretta Scott King and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, returned to Forsyth County. He was among the 500 law enforcement officers and 1,700 National Guard members keeping the peace. “Now those were some rough times,” he said. The Gainesville rally of September 1992 “was more of an inconvenience,” he said. “But I was sworn to uphold their rights, their freedom of speech.”" 



"The good folks at Pornhub released a heap of information about the country's porn habits last week, and we now know each state's favorite porn-related search terms, as well as which part of the country stays on the site the longest. (The South, in a landslide.)" 

"U.S. spy agencies have built an intelligence-gathering colossus since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but remain unable to provide critical information to the president on a range of national security threats, according to the government’s top-secret budget. The $52.6 billion “black budget” for fiscal 2013, obtained by The Washington Post from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, maps a bureaucratic and operational landscape that has never been subject to public scrutiny. Although the government has annually released its overall level of intelligence spending since 2007, it has not divulged how it uses the money or how it performs against the goals set by the president and Congress." 
"Lee H. Hamilton, an Indiana Democrat who chaired the House Intelligence Committee and co-chaired the commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks, said that access to budget details will enable an informed public debate on intelligence spending for the first time, much as Snowden’s disclosures of NSA surveillance programs brought attention to operations that had assembled data on nearly every U.S. citizen.

“Nobody is arguing that we should be so transparent as to create dangers for the country,” he said. But, he added, “there is a mind-set in the national security community: ‘Leave it to us, we can handle it, the American people have to trust us.’ They carry it to quite an extraordinary length so that they have resisted over a period of decades transparency. . . . The burden of persuasion as to keeping something secret should be on the intelligence community, the burden should not be on the American public.”"


"Despite 75 years of federal marijuana prohibition, the Justice Department said Thursday that states can let people use the drug, license people to grow it and even allow adults to stroll into stores and buy it — as long as the weed is kept away from kids, the black market and federal property. In a sweeping new policy statement prompted by pot legalization votes in Washington and Colorado last fall, the department gave the green light to states to adopt tight regulatory schemes to oversee the medical and recreational marijuana industries burgeoning across the country. The action, welcomed by supporters of legalization, could set the stage for more states to legalize marijuana. Alaska could vote on the question next year, and a few other states plan similar votes in 2016." 

Today's Internets, Part I - "Been Public Enemy since you thought PE was gym, bitch."




"Liberia's education minister says she finds it hard to believe that not a single candidate passed this year's university admission exam. Nearly 25,000 school-leavers failed the test for admission to the University of Liberia, one of two state-run universities. The students lacked enthusiasm and did not have a basic grasp of English, a university official told the BBC...
University spokesman Momodu Getaweh told Focus on Africa that the university stood by its decision, and it would not be swayed by "emotion". "In English, the mechanics of the language, they didn't know anything about it. So the government has to do something," he said. "The war has ended 10 years ago now. We have to put that behind us and become realistic.""

"Liberia's main state-run university has agreed to admit 1,800 school-leavers who failed this year's admission exam, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says. Ms Sirleaf told the BBC she had held talks with officials at the University of Liberia over the failure of every single candidate who took the exam. Nearly 25,000 school leavers failed the test, with officials saying they did not have a basic grasp of English."

I don't care if you're underage, but this made me laugh. 







By the internet reaction Miley Cyrus has single-handedly turned all of America into somebody's pearl clutching, vapor catching grandmother. In other news, Madonna wore underwear on the *outside* of her clothes, Elvis swiveled his hips in a way too sexually suggestive manner while the jazz music will make you all marijuana fiends... In the wise words of sage Miley - "Remember only God can judge ya, forget the haters 'cause somebody loves ya..."

Jon Lajoie Nails It Perfectly.

I'm a go Team Miley, just for not giving a fuck.
What Miley should be ashamed of is this: Miley Cyrus & Justin Bieber Made A Song Called ‘Twerk,’ Of Course - The Superficial - Because You're Ugly.  Beiber?  C'mon.  We can do better.



Pretty damn funny - "Wow, that's really good writing."



"There are any number of ways to look at the vote: as a reflection of the dim public support for yet another military engagement in the Middle East, a skepticism about following the United States into conflict and perhaps as a political failure by Cameron and his office. But one factor that surely played a tremendous role in the defeat are the ghosts of the Iraq war, which still linger in British politics."
"British lawmakers on Thursday delivered a stunning rejection of Prime Minister David Cameron’s bid to punish the government of Bashar al-Assad for allegedly using chemical weapons, citing skepticism over the misinformation used to back the Iraq war as a reason for staying out of Syria and raising the prospect that any U.S.-led strike would go ahead without its staunchest military ally. The move came as a severe blow both to Cameron — a Conservative Party hawk on Syria — and to U.S. hopes of securing a Britain as a cornerstone of a coalition. After an eight-hour debate, Cameron lost a vote that was seen as a symbolic, preliminary motion setting up a final vote in the days ahead. The failure of even the weaker piece of legislation, in a 285 to 272 vote, suggested that Cameron faces overwhelming opposition to the idea of Britain joining any strikes."


Dig that nasty, old school, Rick Rubin produced, Beastie Boys influenced, vibe.
"Been Public Enemy since you thought PE was gym, bitch."

Training.

8/30 - bench, dips, wrist curls, rv wrist curls, grip roller, COCT

"I’ve pretty much cut out anything that comes out of a box, can, or freezer bag. Also anything out of a factory or that takes less than a minute to cook. Anything that is not real food. My definition of real food is fruits, veggies, dairy, meats, poultry, and sea food.  That^ being said, if I crave something that I don’t usually eat, I will get it, but I won’t keep it in my kitchen. I gave myself permission to eat whatever I want because the minute I tell myself that I can’t eat a specific type of food it will become the only thing I want, and then I’ll end up binging on everything, but nothing will satisfy my craving. 
Exercise is also an important part of my weight loss. I’m not the type of person that absolutely loves exercise and I don’t really like spending hours at the gym. I simply work out maybe 4 or 5 times/week about 30-45mins/day. I also always vary my work outs. I don’t do the same thing every day. Some days I go run at the park, some days I enjoy just being on the treadmill, some days I lift weight, and some days I do a class at the YMCA like zumba, kickboxing, or cycling. This is really the reason I don’t have stretch marks."

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Training.

8/29 - squats, seated calf press, weighted hyperextensions, 1L calf raise

8/28 - pushups -- 25 chins/50 pushups for time, 2:18 -- weighted chins, weighted dips, neutral grip chins

Get. Some.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Today's Internets - "What you meet in another being is the projection of your own level of evolution." - Ram Dass




Well, Zurich sounds fascinating.  BBC News - Zurich introduces 'drive-in' sex:
 "Now the city has come up with a solution it believes will protect them: soliciting on the streets will be forbidden, and instead prostitutes and their clients will be expected to use a custom-built compound on an industrial site in the Zurich suburbs. The facility opens this week; inside the gates, which are manned by security guards, there is a "strip" which men can drive down, and select the woman of their choice. 
"But since all business must take place inside the compound, there are drive-in "sex boxes", and here the measures taken to protect the women are very apparent. On the driver's side, the boxes are very narrow, making it difficult for him to get out of the car. On the passenger side, there is plenty of space, an alarm button and an emergency exit. There are also safe-sex reminders: "There is a big HIV prevention advertisement right in front of the car, so the driver has to look at a condom, to remind him he should wear one," the city authorities say. And there are very strict rules: "Just one man per car, no bikes or motorcycles, no filming, and of course no littering.""

Of course.

"In 1969, Shōnen Sunday magazine featured a series of illustrated articles entitled “Computopia,” which depicted life in a pleasant future pervaded by computers." 
 Take note of the Japanese classroom child-beating robot.  That is the Japan I know and love.


Great article on training - Testosterone and PWO Nutrition | 70's Big:
 "I say that the intricacies of the PWO nutrition is low on the priority list. Why would you care about the specifics of your protein shake when you don’t meet the required amount of protein each day, much less the minimum amount for your body weight? Oh and you’re eating about 100g more carbs than you need, eating shitty fats, not mobbing, and getting about 6 hours a sleep a night? And you want to worry about how many scoops of protein and molecularly dense carbs to swallow after training? Assuming you’re doing an appropriate systemically stressful strength training session to begin with? If it sounds silly, it’s because it is. If you feel cheated, it’s because you have been...

It turns out there really isn’t any research on the “do your workout in 45 minutes or your testosterone levels will drop”. Furthermore, there is discrepancy in the research that may show that protein and carb PWO shakes actually decrease testosterone levels! That sound you hear is your entire world-view burning to the ground...

This is how a discussion on PWO nutrition circles back to general nutrition and training advice; make the simple stuff a habit. Get enough protein and fat to recover, get enough carbs to match your activity level, and get it through quality foods that limit systemic inflammation and help promote recovery...

Combine full body, systemically stressful compound movements in each training session a regular basis to get bigger and stronger — squat, press, deadlift, bench, row, and pull-ups. Keep the approach simple, yet consistent."





Best bro good deed of the day, ever. 

Monday, August 26, 2013

Training.

8/27 - press, db Scott press, Gironda db swing, db shrug, neck harness/nod/rotation

Great work - Bodybuilding.com - Body Transformation: Larry Lost 111 Pounds In 360 Days!:

Gratuitous-vain-post-workout-still-have-a-pump-pic.  My shoulders are one of my many, many weak points, but not too shabby.  Work in progress.  Onwards.

Today's Internets - First the olinguito, then Bigfoot.

You watch.
"Scientists in the US have discovered a new animal living in the cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador. It has been named olinguito and is the first new species of carnivore to be identified in the Western hemisphere in 35 years. It has taken more than a decade to identify the mammal, a discovery that scientists say is incredibly rare in the 21st Century. The credit goes to a team from the Smithsonian Institution."

Well, that ends that "controversy" then.  
  
Of course.  The flaw in any system is people.  That's why any intelligent system needs to be designed to err on the side of limited instead of expansive power - LOVEINT: NSA spooks illegally stalking their romantic interests - Boing Boing


 "“You’d think the US government had bigger priorities than treating honors students like criminals, yet here we are” "


TeachThemHowToThink • : 
“Children don’t need to be sent every Sunday to Gravity School, because they experience gravity directly in their everyday lives. Beliefs that are true rarely need reinforcement, which is why after we use marbles to figure out the times table, we accept it and do not need to keep retesting it or reinforcing it. Beliefs that are false have a way of wearing out, drying up and blowing away, which is why we constantly need to reinforce them, usually through social chanting, singing or other kinds of mind deadening repetition.”

Know your history.  Of the Zen Objectivist Conspiracy Theorist Ambiguous Anti-Hero.  No wonder he's my favorite character.  The Dennis O'Neil series of the late 80s was fundamental in my own intellectual and psychological development.  Obvious, with hindsight.  [Though I don't get at all what they're doing with him in the New 52.]


 "The U.S. government may be considering military action in response to chemical strikes near Damascus. But a generation ago, America's military and intelligence communities knew about and did nothing to stop a series of nerve gas attacks far more devastating than anything Syria has seen, Foreign Policy has learned.

In 1988, during the waning days of Iraq's war with Iran, the United States learned through satellite imagery that Iran was about to gain a major strategic advantage by exploiting a hole in Iraqi defenses. U.S. intelligence officials conveyed the location of the Iranian troops to Iraq, fully aware that Hussein's military would attack with chemical weapons, including sarin, a lethal nerve agent.

U.S. officials have long denied acquiescing to Iraqi chemical attacks, insisting that Hussein's government never announced he was going to use the weapons. But retired Air Force Col. Rick Francona, who was a military attaché in Baghdad during the 1988 strikes, paints a different picture. "The Iraqis never told us that they intended to use nerve gas. They didn't have to. We already knew," he told Foreign Policy. According to recently declassified CIA documents and interviews with former intelligence officials like Francona, the U.S. had firm evidence of Iraqi chemical attacks beginning in 1983."





Food Log.


8/19 - coffee, chocolate milk, whey protein, Animal Rage, Animal Pump, water, milk, rice, eggs, butter, chicken, fried garlic shrimp, crab dip w/rice crackers, beer, Animal Flex

8/20 - coffee, chocolate milk, whey protein, Animal Pump, Pump HD, 1MR, water, milk, Coke Light, pork chops

8/21 - coffee, chocolate milk, whey protein, Pump HD, 1MR, water, milk, eggs, rice, butter, bacon, steak, ZMA, peanut butter

8/22 - coffee, chocolate milk, milk, whey protein, water, peanut butter, Coke Zero, onion rings, triple cheeseburger w/bacon

8/23 - coffee, milk, peanut butter, water, eggs, rice

8/24 - coffee, milk, pork chops, chicken, karaage, Coke Zero, triple bacon cheeseburger, fries, water

8/25 - coffee, milk, Coke Zero, water, karaage, pork chops, bacon cheeseburger/no bun, chocolate milk, eggs, rice

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Training.

8/26 - deadlifts, seated rows, chins, 1A db rows, alt 1A db curls, pushups

Impressive work - MichelleDavis's Progress Pictures - BodySpace by Bodybuilding.com: