Friday, October 24, 2014

Giles was awesome.




Marijuana Edibles, Flavored E-Cigarettes, And The Folly Of Child-Proofing The World: "Although flavored e-cigarettes and marijuana edibles are intended for adults, appeal to adults, and can be legally sold only to adults, the prohibitionists argue that they cannot be tolerated because they also appeal to minors. The same rationale has been offered for bans on flavored tobacco products and sweet malt beverages. This argument, although couched in the language of moderate and sensible regulation, should be a non-starter in a free society, because it reduces adults to the level of children...

Back in 2009, Congress banned flavored cigarettes because they supposedly lured kids into smoking. But as a favor to Philip Morris, which supported the bill, Congress made an exception for menthol, the only flavor that has ever had a wide following among teenagers, while banning products like clove cigarettes and strawberry bidis, which accounted for something like 0.1 percent of the underage market. Later that year, the New York City Council went further, banning all flavored tobacco products (again, except for menthol cigarettes), on the theory that stopping adults from buying rum-flavored cigars or cherry-flavored pipe tobacco would stop kids from smoking cigarettes. 

The argument for banning flavored e-cigarettes is equally rigorous. “These flavors are direct marketing to children,” says the sponsor of the bill, Councilman Costa Constantinides (D-Queens). “They appeal to children, and we’re taking them out of that market.” Notice how Constantinides, like the CDPHE, equates making a product that could appeal to minors with “direct marketing to children.” I doubt that Constantinides has any evidence, aside from his own intuition, to back up his claim that e-cigarette companies are targeting children. But one thing is clear: Whether or not they appeal to minors, the flavors that offend him appeal to adults who switch from smoking to vaping...

Critics like Constantinides and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-Va.), guided by little more than their own idiosyncratic tastes, want to decree which flavors adult vapers may consume, even at the cost of deterring smokers from quitting. They do so in the name of protecting children, even though the risk that experimenting with e-cigarettes will lead to smoking is purely speculative. “Although there have been claims that EC [electronic cigarettes] is acting as a ‘gateway’ to smoking in young people,” notes a recent review in the journal Addiction, “the evidence does not support this assertion. Regular use of EC by non-smokers is rare, and no migration from EC to smoking has been documented (let alone whether this occurred in individuals not predisposed to smoking in the first place). The advent of EC has been accompanied by a decrease rather than increase in smoking uptake by children.”

...In other words, Constantinides and his allies are prepared to sacrifice the interests, and potentially the lives, of verifiably real adults for the sake of hypothetical teenagers. This is where the logic of regulating “for the children” leads. Attempts to child-proof the world do not necessarily make kids any safer, but they always makes adults less free."


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Also, Best. Entrance. Ever.


Training - "We often think we have earned things we have not."

10/24 - pullups, pushups, db curls, strap curls, ovh tri xt, tri pushups, ab wheel, side bends, tabata/kb swings







LIFT-RUN-BANG: Earn it: "We often think we have earned things we have not. I mean how often have you heard someone say “I did cardio this morning, so I earned this piece of cake.” What’s going on in this situation? If you did cardio then I assume that your goal is probably fat loss. So shouldn’t the mentality be that since you’re supposed to be in fat loss mode, that what is being earned is the loss of fat? Not the cake?  This same backwards mentality creeps its way into training as well. People want to earn more pounds on the bar, but often get trapped in a cycle of testing, testing, testing, to see if the new poundage is there. Forgetting that training for it is the earning part. Put in the time training, rather than testing, and the new PR is earned more quickly...  If training has sucked, or if progress has been minimal for a while then maybe you need a self assessment in how disciplined you’ve been with all the facets that play a part in success. Maybe you’ve been setting goals trying to earn all the wrong things. Maybe your self discipline needs a swift kick in the ass. If that’s the case, refocus and find all the right things you need to be earning."

Experts in subjective subjects aren't.


Pranksters Trick Foodies Into Praising McDonald's: "In a setup that would make Jimmy Kimmel green with envy, two Dutch pranksters visited a major culinary convention to show off their new line of delicious, organic food—actually bog standard McDonald's fare, just cut up and skewered with toothpicks. Predictably, everyone at the food expo in Houten claimed they loved the "new organic meal." The food got positive marks for its complex flavors, with eaters declaring it tastier and much better for you than Mickey D's."

Still doing it wrong, Liberia.  Gay community under attack in Liberia over Ebola outbreak | Reuters: "Leroy Ponpon doesn't know whether to lock himself in his flat in Monrovia because of the deadly Ebola virus, or because he is gay. Christian churches' recent linking of the two have made life hell for him and hundreds of other gays. Ponpon, an LGBT campaigner in the Liberian capital, says gays have been harassed, physically attacked and a few have had their cars smashed by people blaming them for the hemorrhagic fever, after religious leaders in Liberia said Ebola was a punishment from God for homosexuality."

Sexy |: "...most women also lack a fundamental understanding of the male sexual impulse. As I’ve stated in prior threads, until women are steeped in 17 times their normal testosterone levels, they will never understand the male experience with regards to sex. When a woman utters the words “I don’t understand why sex is such a big deal for guys”, she’s speaking the truth. She can’t know, but along with that comes a disconnect between her lack of understanding the male sexual impulse and her fem-centric social conditioning of what sex should be like for him. “I find the whole concept of being ‘sexy’ embarrassing and confusing.” 

She doesn’t understand how to be sexy, but few women do because it is Men who’ve classically defined what is sexy and feminine in women. What has historically worked as sexy, and what has been historically confirmed as feminine is defined by the response and effect that particular behavior set evokes from Men. What we consider today as sexy behaviors and appearance were characteristics ‘selected-for’ that endured to become gender indicative aspects of being feminine. The inverse of this is true for women; women define what is sexy in men. The problem women have with being sexy in the last 50+ years is illustrated in Emma’s next point: “I know everyone wants a picture of me in a mini-skirt. But that’s not me. I feel uncomfortable. I’d never go out in a mini-skirt. Personally, I don’t even think it’s that sexy.” On a rudimentary biological level, Emma actually does know what is sexy (i.e. what turns Men on about women), but she is “uncomfortable” in being so. 

Her refusal or discomfort in being so is where the feminine imperative picks up the banner and runs with it...  Like all contemporary women, she wants to define what sexy should be for men using metrics that she is comfortable with. The problem, as with all things fem-centric, is that this social push to redefine for men what they should find sexy slams headlong into Men’s biological imperatives...

Quite honestly I think seduction is a lost art for women... so seduction practices aren’t reinforced for her. Now add to this the feminine priority westernized culture has placed on women’s sexuality. Any woman feeling a need to be seductive for a man is cast in the role of putting his sexual value above her own. Remember, according to Cosmo and Oprah it is he who needs to be sensitive to her needs. Her sexuality is a GIFT he qualifies for, not something she should ever feel a need to sell to him by means of seduction.  Women don’t need to seduce men anymore. The feminine-priority dynamic has put a default value on women’s sexuality. Those hot enough to simply wear something revealing never need seduction, and those not hot enough can’t sell it anyway. And the girls who’re in between – the one’s who’d benefit most – are discouraged from learning seduction since it’s denigrating to women who should already be on a pedestal to begin with.  Ever since the sexual revolution there’s been less and less motivation for women to develop seduction skills. If anything there’s a resentment for ever having needed them in the past. "

The Department of Homeland Security Goes on a Panty Raid - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "In 2002, the Bush administration issued a formal proposal outlining the reasoning for the creation a new, cabinet-level bureaucracy, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). "The changing nature of the threats facing America requires a new government structure to protect against invisible enemies that can strike with a wide variety of weapons," the proposal explained. "America needs a single, unified homeland security structure that will improve protection against today’s threats and be flexible enough to help meet the unknown threats of the future." Without DHS, America would never be safe...

Flash forward to 2014. The Department of Homeland Security has a $39 billion annual budget. It is fighting the fight against our invisible enemies, and taking on the unknown threats of the future. By confiscating baseball-themed women's underwear from enthusiastic local retailers. The Kansas City Star reports on Peregrine Honig, who created the design for "Lucky Royals" women’s boyshorts, featuring the words "take the crown" and a "KC" logo emblazoned on the rear, in honor of the Kansas City Royals baseball team making it to the World Series. Honig was going to sell the boyshorts in her store, Honig’s Birdies Panties. Then a pair of DHS agents stopped by...

She thought that since the underwear featured her hand-drawn design that she was safe. But the officers explained that by connecting the "K" and the "C," she infringed on major league baseball copyright. (The officials involved could not be immediately reached for comment.) They placed the underwear in an official Homeland Security bag and had Honig sign a statement saying she wouldn’t use the logo. Don't you feel safer now?" 


Torture May Not Be So Bad When You're Using the Bamboo Splinters, Obama Administration Decides - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "Like so many other things Barack Obama thought were so terrible about his predecessor in office—war in Iraq, executive orders, lack of transparency—he may have decided that torture isn't so bad when you're on the delivering end...

Note that the president issued an executive order in 2009 formally banning the use of torture. Then, in August, he shrugged his shoulders and admitted, "we tortured some folks" in what was taken as a suggestion that this nasty stuff was no more on his watch.  But after the State Department proposed at this half-way point through the second term of an administration nominally opposed to torture to formally repudiate the Bush administration's legal rationale for the practice, it apparently occurred to administration officials that doing so would mean they'd really have to stop. Which is awfully commitment-y for a White House that has settled so comfortably into many policies it once opposed."


Thursday, October 23, 2014

Assemble.

Boom.  "Marvel's 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Teaser Trailer"



Eroding any respect for law enforcement one bullshit charge at a time.  NYPD Assault Arrest Musician for Playing a Song Even After Verifying He Hadn’t Broken Any Laws | The Free Thought Project: "In a video uploaded to YouTube on Saturday, Lawrence and Leigh musician Andrew Kalleen is seen being assaulted and arrested by NYPD- even after knowing his rights and proving to the officer that he had not broken any laws. The video, which was filmed at the Lorimer Street/Metropolitan Avenue station around 1:30 am on Friday, begins with Kalleen already explaining to the officer that he is not breaking any laws. Infact, he cites the exact law the officer needs to look up to prove he was well within his rights.  Kalleen has become well versed with this law, as he informed us that this is at least the 6th time he has been asked to stop.  He has previously only received tickets- which he is also fighting through a Civilian Complaint Review Board investigation. The officer continues to claim that he cannot play on the platform unless he has a permit, to which Kalleen asserts that he is incorrect.  The officer demands he put down his guitar or be subject to arrest...

The officer then searches for the law on his cellphone, and reads out loud just how mistaken he was. Section 1050.6c of the MTA’s “Rules of Conduct“states: Except as expressly permitted in this subdivision, no person shall engage in any nontransit uses upon any facility or conveyance. Nontransit uses are noncommercial activities that are not directly related to the use of a facility or conveyance for transportation. The following nontransit uses are permitted by the Authority, provided they do not impede transit activities and they are conducted in accordance with these rules: public speaking; campaigning; leafletting or distribution of written noncommercial materials; activities intended to encourage and facilitate voter registration; artistic performances, including the acceptance of donations. 

Applause breaks out among the on lookers as the clearly confused cop finishes reading. In typical NYPD fashion, this officer is not about to let some silly little thing like the law get in his way..

The officer begins to get more agitated, calls for backup, and walks away. Kalleen stands his ground and refuses to leave and starts to play Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here,’ to a round of applause. The Officer comes back, slaps his hand off of the guitar and removes it, yet Kalleen keeps singing- finishing up the song to another large round of applause. Still refusing to back down and admit he was wrong, the officer is then scolded and questioned by the witnesses of this insane harassment. The rights-defending musician begins to play another song, causing the severely frustrated cop to call over another officer, before bashing Kalleen in the face with his guitar and handcuffing him...

The crowd boo’s, and screams of “fuck the police” echoed through the platform as he is dragged away."


Training - "Whatcha Thinkin Bout?"

10/23 - squats, goblet squats, walking lunges, hip xt, leg xt, calf press, treadmill intervals, stretch, steam


mastrength: From the “Somewhere in China there’s...: "From the “Somewhere in China there’s a little girl warming up with your max” folder. Here is rep 3 of a 130kg back squat triple by 14 yo Luo Xiaoling (58kg). She did multiple sets at this weight in China’s National Training Base aka ‘Champion Factory’. This was during her afternoon session, she had snatched, deadlifted, and pulled in the morning session."

God. Damn.





Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Training.

10/22 - bench, dips, inc db press, flyes, knee raise, twisting decline situps


P90X - Timeline Photos: "#TransformationTuesday - Kurt K lost 16 lbs and 43% of his body fat in just 90 days with P90! #ItsYourTurn #P90"


"Bro, that is bad ass."

 Adult Lunchables.









Move of the fight from last week's Agents of Shield.