Training.

9/13 - bench, dips, pushups

The day after leg day... all of the suck, none of the awesome.

Outstanding work - Bodybuilding.com - Body Transformation: Jen Jewell's Road To Pro: 

Today's Internets - "It's called bacon."

That Forensics Lab Fingering You for a Crime Gets a Bounty for Your Conviction - Hit & Run : Reason.com: 

"...the fact is that the hard science produced by forensics laboratories might be a tad squishy. It might even be spun to please certain parties. Reports the Newspaper: A recent analysis published in the Criminal Justice Ethics academic journal suggests when technicians perform forensic analysis of blood and other evidence for cases such as drunk driving, the results can be influenced by built-in financial incentives to produce a conviction. Syracuse University Professor Roger Koppl joined Meghan Sacks from Fairleigh Dickinson University argue that even if false conviction rates are very low, a 3 percent error rate could put 33,000 innocent individuals behind bars every year...

The primary problem, according to the paper, is that fourteen states reward crime labs with a bonus for each conviction they generate. North Carolina pays a $600 bounty "upon conviction" to the law enforcement agency whose lab "tested for the presence of alcohol." These incentives do not necessarily encourage scientists to lie, rather they tend to create an observation bias when measuring, for example, a blood specimen for its blood alcohol content...

How can this be? Isn't science objective? Well...no. At least it's not in its application to crime. As Koppl and Sacks point out, "forensic science depends greatly on subjective judgment. Even fingerprint examination and DNA typing often involve subjective judgment." In both fingerprint and DNA matching, graphic results are compared to each other. The degree to which they correspond has a lot to do with personal judgment calls. They point to the FBI's false identification of a "100 percent match' for Brandon Mayfield in the 2004 Madrid train bombing as an example of the fallibility of such tests—the feds later admitted their error."

When did the church accept that the Earth moves around the sun?:

"The answer is, 'when it had to,' which turned out to be in 1822. For the centuries beforehand, heliocentrism became a battle ground for different religions and religious factions. As Protestantism and Catholicism battled it out for religious supremacy, whichever religion gave ground on the geocentric model of the universe was accused by the other of turning away from the scriptures. As a result, both stood firm on an immobile Earth. In schools, things made a bit more progress. For much of the 1700s, people insisted that both models should be taught to students. (Sound familiar?) Once both models were being taught, with both professional and amateur astronomers proliferating, the geocentric model continuously lost ground. It simply didn't support the growing body of data that scientists were accumulating. "

Joss Whedon Talks SHIELD, Superheroes, and Secrets: “I Guess I’m Just Not Very Good At Reality” | TIME.com: 

"And so the way they speak, the logic of the stories and the emotions–it’s going to be my show. That doesn’t really change. I mean The Avengers was The Avengers, but when it was said and done I look at it and I think this is clearly my work. The only problem I’ve had is that the metaphor is more subdued, even though they are heroes. With Dollhouse I had changeable identities. Firefly, I had western in space. Buffy, I had demons. I always had something very, very sort of big to latch onto. And this, it’s so close to the real world that I don’t have as many excuses for absurdity to get in the character. But, you know, we’ll still find it. The only paradigm shift for me is going oh this is closer to reality then I’m used to, which is funny to say about a show that’s about superheroes. I guess I’m just not very good at reality."

This is pretty funny - Benefits of Dating an Older Woman(?) | The Blackdragon Blog: 

"It appears I’m going to have to create a new phrase. It’s something I see a lot of, yet there is no word/phrase to describe it. I’m going to call it “gender myopia”...  Gender myopia is the condition of being so narrowly focused on what your gender likes, you are completely blinded to the realities of what the other gender likes. You think the other gender wants exactly what you want. Which, of course, they don’t...

When men email pictures of their genitalia to women thinking “Oh yeah, that’ll turn her on,” that’s gender myopia. When women brag on their online profiles about how “sassy” they are and their college degrees, that’s also gender myopia. In both cases, they’re doing what would turn them on, rather than the opposite gender, and are thusly turning off the other gender rather than attracting them.

...sometimes gender myopia is so extreme it’s not funny at all.  I recently came across this article posted on some kind of dating advice site. Its gender myopia is stunning in its depth. It really was amazing to read...  She lists seven reasons why men should date older women instead of those stupid, slutty, classless younger women...  

Since she’s got a little life on her (and maybe even a marriage in her past), she may not have the rigid checklist that a younger girl has. 

The exact opposite of reality. Go on ten first dates with ten women over the age of 33. Then go on ten first dates with women under the age of 27. Then come back and tell me which age group is almost completely dominated by their “checklists” when it comes to men and dating...

She knows what she wants—and doesn’t want. And at this point, she’s not afraid to say it. In the bedroom? Go ahead and try to shock her. Bondage? Bisexual encounters? Threeways? Role play? If she hasn’t tried it herself, she’s likely considered it. 

Yeah. Try to get your 38 year-old wife or girlfriend into a threesome with you and another woman. Let me know how that goes. Then once you break up with her and get a 24 year-old girlfriend, try to get her into a threesome. Then be shocked at how easy it was to get her to go along with it and enjoy it versus the ASD-ridden 38 year old...

She had sex before she had a FB profile. Hard as it may be to imagine a world before Facebook, the fact is, there was one—and I, along with many of my lady cohorts, lived in it. 

This is a benefit to a man…how? Her answer is, because of her gender myopia, for some reason living before Facebook is a badge of honor for her. Therefore it should be for you. Logical..."

Scorched Earth tactics in the age of Google.  Pretty sharp, in a Machiavellian way.  Also funny - How To Defeat New York City Media Liberals: 

"I have been successfully destroyed on Google. My name is linked to all sorts of negative material that ensures I will never get a corporate job again in my life. That’s fine with me since I make my living via other means, but that’s not fine for blog writers who still need to depend on corporate America...

Having your name destroyed on Google... I know this will hurt them because it hurt me, as right now I’m stuck in some backwater European city, waking up at noon every day, banging thin women who bake me cakes and wear heels like they’re sneakers. At the same time I make love to foreign women without condoms, I have immunity from liberal attacks, and have decided to use this immunity for the good of men from my birth country. It’s as if I have been blessed with a superpower."

"It's the best we got."  So watching this.

Via Front Toward Enemy: 

"Sam Bee, Bob Odenkirk and David Cross repair diplomatic ties with Egypt.  "It’s called bacon.""

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook

Training.

9/12 - squats, calf press, weighted hyperextensions, 1l calf raise...  leg day sucks.  But in a good way.  But it sucks.

 

Awesome work - Before And After Fat Loss | andimkatie  Hey there, I’m Katie! This is...:
"Hey there, I’m Katie! This is progress from 184.5 lbs to 124 lbs! I’m 5’5 and I began getting healthy on May 18th! I’m really excited about my progress so far and I can’t wait to keep living "

Today's Internets - "True patriotism..."

“True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.” ― Clarence Darrow

Afghanistan still a huge clusterfuck, btw - Afghanistan 12 Years In: Corruption, "Civil War," and the Release of a Taliban Commander For Peace - Hit & Run : Reason.com: 

"While the US improvs its way toward military intervention in Syria, the US war in Afghanistan is approaching its 12 year mark. There have been 2,144 US combat deaths since the start of military operations in 2001, with more than 70 percent coming under the Obama Administration. President Obama entered office campaigning on Afghanistan as the “good war,” and eventually dithered into a surge of 30,000 troops at the end of 2009. The Obama Administration failed to capitalize on any momentum created by the surge to seek a diplomatic solution. Indeed the White House team did its best to thwart attempts by diplomats like Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan at the beginning of Obama’s first term, to seek a diplomatic solution and political exit from Afghanistan.

...nearly $100 billion has been spent by the US on “development” in the country, yet US authorities haven’t even implemented the basic anti-corruption measures they themselves crafted. The US finally came aboard a peace process earlier this year, though it didn’t stop President Obama from pressuring the outgoing Afghan president Hamid Karzai to consent to the presence of US troops in Afghanistan past 2014, a date Obama’s set for “withdrawal” and the year Karzai is supposed to be replaced in elections. Pakistan agreed earlier this week to release the Afghan Taliban’s number two commander, who the CIA helped capture in 2010, something apparently seen by both Afghan and American officials as helpful to bring the Taliban on board peace talks.""

Really horrible Facebook messages : theCHIVE: 

These people were awesome - Paris Chanel:

I dig this.  Hat tip Dedroidify.

Wish the Syrians had the common decency to kill people with drone strikes and bombs, the way we do in the civilized world.

Sure.  Of course.  They planned it this way the whole time. - Obama Supporters Insist Diplomatic Breakthrough on Syria Was Part of the Plan All Along, Belied by President’s Words and Actions - Hit & Run : Reason.com: 

"After John Kerry told Syria it had one week to surrender its chemical weapons or face US airstrikes, Russia stepped in by proposing Syria transfer its chemical weapons to international control. Syria agreed, and the French are working on a UN resolution to formalize the arrangement. It looks like the diplomatic breakthrough could avoid a war, so Obama supporters have been quick to claim that that was the president’s plan all along...

It’s a convenient fiction that makes the Nobel Peace Prize recipient’s recent campaign for war seem like just another diplomatic tactic. While it’s certainly possible Syria and Russia would be less motivated to find a diplomatic solution to a problem that didn’t involve US military intervention, a diplomatic solution never appeared to be what the Obama Administration had in mind as an end game. The statement John Kerry made that got the diplomatic ball rolling, after all, was uttered sarcastically. Neither Kerry nor Obama expected Syria to respond to it in good faith—hardly the expectations of people making a good faith attempt at diplomacy.

...if the threat of military force were actually intended to secure a diplomatic breakthrough, then the president would  not have went to Congress for a vote on Syria. After all, Obama has consistently denied he needs Congressional authorization to act. Were the purpose of the threat of military force jumpstarting diplomacy, opening that threat of force to a Congressional vote far from guaranteed to be a success would be counterproductive.

...far more likely is that the president called for a vote in Congress after seeing reticence among his allies and the American people for war, and hoping a vote in Congress, if in the affirmative, would help him shift blame if things go wrong, and that a vote in the negative could be used as an excuse to blame inaction on others. "

Ashe Giles, #deadpool #supergirl #bane #catwoman #batgirl...: 

Redskull's Page: 

You're aware everything about everything about the "War on Drugs" is bullshit, right?  From Bryant Gumbel's Real Sports, on steroids - "Americans, when drugs are concerned, rarely choose logic when they can opt for hysteria."

Today's Internets - "You are tearing this family apart."

YOU ARE TEARING THIS FAMILY APART, FUCKING TYRONE: 

Gaming the 4th Amendment/They Don't Give a Fuck About Your "Rights"  - US border laptop searches: the other warrantless surveillance - Boing Boing: 

"Documents released today as a result of the House v. Napolitano settlement document the systematic use of laptop searches at the US border to evade the need to get a warrant to read Americans' email. They way it worked: Homeland Security Investigations has someone they want the goods on, but don't think a judge would grant them a warrant. They put their victim on a travel advisory list, and the next time she crosses the border, the CBP seizes her laptop and phone and whatever other devices she's carrying and they get a copy of all of her data: no warrant required. They used this trick to seize the documents of David House, who worked to raise money and public support for Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning), and eventually had to settle a lawsuit brought by House and the ACLU, a condition of which was the release of these documents."

Feds Have No Viable Legal Strategy to Overturn Marijuana Legalization, Deputy A.G. Concedes - Hit & Run : Reason.com: 

"Testifying today at the first congressional hearing on marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington, Deputy Attorney General James Cole conceded that the Justice Department does not have a solid legal basis on which to challenge those states' new laws. "It would be a very challenging lawsuit to bring," Cole told the Senate Judiciary Committee, because repealing state penalties for growing, possessing, and selling marijuana does not create a "positive conflict" with the Controlled Substances Act. Cole argued that the feds might be on firmer ground if they tried to pre-empt state licensing and regulation of newly legal marijuana businesses. But if such litigation were successful, he said, it could make the situation worse by leaving the industry unregulated."

NSA Illegally Gorged on U.S. Phone Records for Three Years | Threat Level | Wired.com: 

"What happens when a secret U.S. court allows the National Security Agency access to a massive pipeline of U.S. phone call metadata, along with strict rules on how the spy agency can use the information? The NSA promptly violated those rules — “since the earliest days” of the program’s 2006 inception — carrying out thousands of inquiries on phone numbers without any of the court-ordered screening designed to protect Americans from illegal government surveillance. The violations continued for three years, until they were uncovered by an internal review, and the NSA found itself fighting to keep the spy program alive."

Summing up Taylor Swift.  Also she sometimes sings well. - Please Stop Looking Hot, Taylor Swift, You’re A Terrible Person And A Cancer - The Superficial: 

"Taylor Swift is a petty and vindictive 23-year-old who young girls look up to as a role model, so naturally she teaches them to over-dramatize every interaction with men and stew in a jealous broth of hate for each and every break-up so they constantly act hysterically, if not bitchily at minimum.  And yet her body is amazing and I just want to have lots and lots of sex with it until I’ve ignored her personality disorder for so long it’s now become a ticking time-bomb of emotion that will probably get a bunch of my shit broken, so clearly I have to vanish without a trace. Does that make a bad person? Because, in my defense, mysteries are romantic. “Oh, where could my boyfriend be? Time to sleuth!” I’m always hearing women say."  

If you incentivize keeping people locked up, guess what happens? - Worst bailout ever?: Corporate welfare meets community destruction - Salon.com: 

"...a persistently falling crime rate has led to a slightly smaller prison population in 2012 for the third consecutive year. The United States still incarcerates more people than any country on Earth, but a for-profit prison industry seeking constant growth should be alarmed by the numbers — especially if the Justice Department really declares a cease-fire in the war on drugs. But what do we do with struggling yet politically powerful industries in America? We bail them out, of course!

And California is set to do just that for the private prison industry. Under a Supreme Court order to reduce the prison population, Gov. Jerry Brown has outlined a plan where he would transfer thousands of prisoners to the for-profit system and pay them hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars for the privilege...

It’s not like there isn’t low-hanging fruit here. Low-level nonviolent drug offenders, who need medical help rather than a “violent crime college” like an overcrowded prison, litter the state system. Because of three strikes — which mandates a life sentence after a third conviction — California has the oldest prison population in America (5,000 are over age 60), including thousands of ill or infirm inmates, costing the state billions and taking up space in prisons. California has a medical parole system that hardly ever gets used. Not even a quadriplegic costing the state $625,000 a year to house in prison, when hospice care would cost pennies on the dollar, can get released. And just bringing sanity to the parole system would reduce recidivism and get the population down. The ACLU has cited medical parole and other ideas that would comply with the release order in a responsible way...

But Gov. Brown’s plan for “releasing” the final 10,000 prisoners by the end of the year involves transferring them all to private prison facilities, including one lockup in the Mojave Desert and several others out of state. California would pay for the transfer and the upkeep, costing the state $730 million over the next two years, eating up nearly 70 percent of the state’s reserve fund, money that could go to education or healthcare. This enormous expense represents life support for a private prison industry seeing a future growth lag. But if California keeps dropping off its excess prisoners, for-profit prisons have their own stimulus package."

Fucked up.  Thus funny. 

They know what they did there.

Training & Food Log.

9/10 - press, Arnold press, Gironda swings, db shrugs, neck nods/rotations, neck harness

9/9 - deadlifts, pulldowns, seated rows, chins, 1A db rows, weighted chins, alt db curls

Truth.

Now that all our household goods are in country it feels like I can start mapping out training & nutrition for the next 21 months or so, till we pack it all out and start up somewhere else again.  Training wise, since about end of July/for about 7 weeks now I've been using, basically, Wendler's 5/3/1 with the 'Boring But Big' supplemental work.  Not deloading as much as he recommends, but I'm stupid, so that'll bite me in the ass, probably.  But as long as I've got access to a barbell, I'm going to use that as my go-to workout and my basic template.  I like it a lot.

Smart programming, steady progressions, enough variability and it's all about getting stronger in a consistent, methodical way.  Which is something I could use, given my tendency to program hop/try and master everything.  Along those lines, with the whole 'get stronger/build some muscle mass' I'm loosening up my nutrition a lot.  

Given since the end of 2010/beginning of 2011 my fitness goal has been primarily "stop being a fat fuck" I think, even with some up and down - [dropped 43lbs in 15 months, then over the next year gained 15lbs and then dropped 10lbs again...  basically staying in and around 5-10lbs of my lowest weight.  Though at 5lbs heavier in summer of 2013 than in summer 2012, I was just as lean as I was the previous year] - I've pretty much cracked the code on how to cut weight/lean out when I want.  [Short answer - lift hard, HIIT conditioning & cyclical ketogenic diets.]

The only nutrition rule for the next four months...

Anyways, since I've got a barbell and some appreciable weight to work with the goal shifts from "stop being a fat fuck" to "stop being so fucking weak."  Or, to be more positive - get stronger and put on some muscle.

And the changing training goal changes the nutrition strategy.  Whereas before I'd try to keep carbs low-ish/ primal/paleo 90% of the time, with a cheat day/occasional splurge, for the last month or so, and for the next 4 months at least [until the New Year] I'm going to just EAT.  Primarily, eat lots of protein for muscle repair & synthesis and don't worry about carbs so much.  Primal/Paleo is still probably ideal, but mostly it's going to be about packing in protein, calories and macronutrients.  I've probably had more whole milk in the last two months than I've had in the previous 2 years... eating lots of rice, potatoes... and more than the occasional triple bacon cheeseburger & pizza.

Bulk till the beginning of 2014 and then up the conditioning and start cutting/cycling carbs again for two, 3 month periods.  Hopefully I don't "cultivate too much mass."  Cut the Wendler 5/3/1 protocol

down to his minimalist "Jack Shit" variation, adding in a round or two of P90X & P90X2 & finding and start Muay Thai. That takes me through the summer, then another 6 month bulking phase, then a 3 month cut, then it's time to move. Not dissimilar, really, from oldschool bodybuilding bulking & cutting routines, with a bit more athletic performance training.

Plus, overall, in the next 21 months I really want to work on my flexibility and mobility, and also start doing some recreational swimming, since we've an accessible pool at the complex.

Onwards.

9/3 - coffee, milk, chocolate milk, Craze/Pump HD/1MR preworkout, water, protein powder, peanut butter, bananas, karaage, beer

9/4 - coffee, milk, water, protein powder, peanut butter, bananas, karaage, bacon, Coke Zero, beer

9/5 - coffee, milk, water, protein powder, eggs, ground pork, mayo, chocolate milk, peanut butter, bananas, Caveman Cookies, ZMA

9/6 - coffee, cream, water, tortillas, shredded cheese, sour cream, beer, triple bacon cheeseburger, fries, ice cream, Coke Zero

9/7 - Coke Zero, beer, chicken tenders, bacon, pizza, chocolate milk

9/8 - coffee, milk, protein powder, banana, peanut butter, karaage, sausage, beer ice cream

Today's Internets - "First rule... keep moving." - Q&C

Awesome - Ellen Page Is Tara Chace As Greg Rucka's Queen And Country Is Adapted Into A Movie - Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors: 

"With apparent plans to build a Bourne-like franchise around Ellen Page, 20th Century Fox are currently looking to sign the actress up for spy thriller, Queen and Country. The film, or indeed films, will be based on the Oni Press comics by Greg Rucka and various artists. According to Variety the filmmakers will be using a screenplay by Leverage creator John Rogers..."

Ellen Page to star in “Queen & Country” adaptation | Variety: 

"Based on the comic book by Greg Rucka, the story follows Tara Chace, a British Intelligence agent who tries to stop an international terrorist plot after her identity is compromised and as her personal demons spiral out of control. Peter Chernin is producing through his Chernin Entertainment banner, along with Jenno Topping. John Rogers is penning the script."

Cosplayers celebrate 10th anniversary of ‘JLA/Avengers’ | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment:

This is bullshit - Teaching Polygraph Takers To Relax Lands Instructor Behind Bars - Hit & Run : Reason.com:

 "According to a press release from the United States Department of Justice, Chad Dixon will spend eight months in stir "for his role in a scheme to deceive the federal government during polygraph examinations conducted as part of federal security background investigations." He didn't rig the machines or bribe test administrators; he just taught "countermeasures"—instructions that the feds insist are a crime. But, considering that innocent people have gone to prison because polygraphs falsely said they were lying, and the National Academies of Science believe "the general quality of the evidence for judging polygraph validity is relatively low," learning how not to stress out when taking a wrongly named "lie-detector test" would seem to be just good, sensible preparation. Inconveniencing the government may be the true crime...

McClatchy reported last month that the federal government is in a full-court press against polygraph counselors, mostly because it's heavily invested in using the controversial devices to screen job applicants. It uses the devices even though most courts won't admit polygraph results because they consider them completely unreliable...

Dixon's real crime seems to have been to raise questions about the federal government's commitment to what may well be junk science. It's junk science that the feds rely on to intimidate employees and would-be hires during an unprecedented war against whistleblowers."

Schneier on Security: Government Secrecy and the Generation Gap: 

"Keeping secrets is an act of loyalty as much as anything else, and that sort of loyalty is becoming harder to find in the younger generations. If the NSA and other intelligence bodies are going to survive in their present form, they are going to have to figure out how to reduce the number of secrets. As the writer Charles Stross has explained, the old way of keeping intelligence secrets was to make it part of a life-long culture. The intelligence world would recruit people early in their careers and give them jobs for life. It was a private club, one filled with code words and secret knowledge.

Those days are gone. Yes, there are still the codenames and the secret knowledge, but a lot of the loyalty is gone. Many jobs in intelligence are now outsourced, and there is no job-for-life culture in the corporate world any more. Workforces are flexible, jobs are interchangeable and people are expendable. Sure, it is possible to build a career in the classified world of government contracting, but there are no guarantees. Younger people grew up knowing this: there are no employment guarantees anywhere. They see it in their friends. They see it all around them....

Many will also believe in openness, especially the hacker types the NSA needs to recruit. They believe that information wants to be free, and that security comes from public knowledge and debate. Yes, there are important reasons why some intelligence secrets need to be secret, and the NSA culture reinforces secrecy daily. But this is a crowd that is used to radical openness. They have been writing about themselves on the internet for years. They have said very personal things on Twitter; they have had embarrassing photographs of themselves posted on Facebook. They have been dumped by a lover in public. They have overshared in the most compromising ways -- and they have got through it. It is a tougher sell convincing this crowd that government secrecy trumps the public's right to know.

...Snowden is 30 years old; Manning 25. They are members of the generation we taught not to expect anything long-term from their employers. As such, employers should not expect anything long-term from them. It is still hard to be a whistleblower, but for this generation it is a whole lot easier."

"...and let yourself go."