"Somebody say this when I die."

not number six:

"I don't need their blessing now..."

"I don't need their invitation

Ain't no way to shut me down

Or to take this path I've taken

And maybe I've been left out

But never let this be mistaken

They can keep their blessing now

Forget me now

'Cause I was never welcome"

Training.

2/5 - deadlifts, back xt, hanging leg raise, sauna, stretch

2/4 - shadowbox, kettlebell, stretch

"...there is something profoundly creepy about a government agency officially telling women to forgo pleasurable or life-improving choices solely on the basis of their status as the theoretical mothers of the nation's children."

CDC to Women: Don't Drink. Or Take Antidepressants. Or Forget Your Folic Acid. Or Treat Pain. - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "The Internet is freaking out today over a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that women of childbearing age who are not on birth control should abstain from alcohol, lest they unknowingly damage their hypothetical progeny. USA Today reported: “Alcohol can permanently harm a developing baby before a woman knows she is pregnant,” said Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “About half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and even if planned, most women won’t know they are pregnant for the first month or so, when they might still be drinking. The risk is real. Why take the chance?”  Which makes now a good moment for a reminder that this is hardly the first time the CDC has treated women as irresponsible potential baby-porters.

...there is something profoundly creepy about a government agency officially telling women to forgo pleasurable or life-improving choices solely on the basis of their status as the theoretical mothers of the nation's children."

Drink Up, Moms! - Reason.com: "Despite the familiar surgeon general’s warning advising women to abstain completely from alcoholic beverages during pregnancy “because of the risk of birth defects,” there has never been any solid evidence that light to moderate consumption harms the fetus. New research from Denmark, funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), indicates once again that heavy drinking is the real hazard.

In a study involving more than 1,600 women reported in the June issue of BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, children whose mothers consumed nine or more drinks per week during pregnancy had shorter attention spans than children of abstainers at age 5 and were five times as likely to have low IQs. But no such effects were apparent in the children of women whose alcohol consumption during pregnancy was light (one to four drinks per week) or moderate (five to eight drinks per week). “Our findings show that low to moderate drinking is not associated with adverse effects on the children aged 5,” the researchers said. A “drink” as defined in this study contained 12 grams of pure ethanol, compared to the American standard of 14 grams, one-sixth more. But given the relatively wide consumption ranges, that difference probably does not matter much. Furthermore, self-reported drinking, especially by pregnant women, probably underestimates actual consumption, meaning that the amounts associated with no neurological impairment may be larger than those indicated by the study."

Religion, media, and politics. The perfect storm of horrible.

Top German Journalist Admits Live On Air National News Agenda Set By Government - Breitbart: "A retired media boss at a major German state broadcaster has admitted his network and others take orders from the government on what — and what not — to report. National public service broadcaster Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), which was recently forced into a humiliating apology for their silence on migrant violence and sex assault is being drawn into a fresh scandal after one of their former bureau chiefs admitted the company takes orders from the government on what it reports. He said journalists received instructions to write news that would be “to Ms. Merkel’s liking”...

While these orders are sent to media companies from unspecified places in the government, they are communicated to individual journalists by news executives using a new-speak jargon. Dr. Herles explains that while “there are, in fact, instructions from above”, when the editor in chief of ZDF communicated these instructions to his juniors he would merely say reporting should be framed in a way that “serves Europe and the public good”. There would be no need to add in brackets that this actually means..

“Today, one is not allowed to say anything negative about the refugees” said Dr. Herles, concluding: “This is government journalism and that leads to a situation in which people no longer trust us. This is a scandal.”"

German Broadcaster 'Sorry' For Slow Reporting On Cologne Sex Assaults: "German public broadcaster ZDF has apologised for delays in reporting on a wave of sexual assaults blamed on men of Arab appearance amid accusations Wednesday of media self-censorship of the inflammatory issue. The rash of attacks and thefts in a New Year’s Eve crowd in the western city of Cologne was only widely covered by national media early this week, after police had initially reported no major incidents. News editors of ZDF’s flagship “heute” (today) evening news programme apologised on social media for not reporting on the incidents at least in its Monday evening bulletin, four days after the attacks. “The news situation was clear enough. It was a mistake of the 7pm ‘heute’ show not to at least report the incidents,” wrote deputy chief editor Elmar Thevessen on the show’s Facebook page."

Cologne Imam: Girls Were Raped For Being Half Naked And Wore Perfume: "Warning women against “adding fuel to the fire”, the Imam of a Salafist Cologne mosque has said the victims of the New Year’s Eve attacks in that city were themselves responsible for their sex assault, by dressing inappropriately and wearing perfume. Speaking to major Russian channel REN TV, Imam Sami Abu-Yusuf’s remarks came during a 12 minute segment bringing Russians up to date with the latest developments in the migrant invasion of Europe. Sandwiched between eyewitness-footage of migrant rampages in Cologne, women being sexually assaulted by apparently Arab gangs, and a segment on a surge of interest in self defence courses in Germany the Imam told the interviewer: “we need to react properly, and not to add fuel to the fire”. Explaining in the view of Salafist Islam why hundreds of women found themselves groped, sexually assaulted and in some cases raped by gangs of migrant men in cities across Germany the Imam said: “the events of New Year’s Eve were the girls own fault, because they were half naked and wearing perfume. It is not surprising the men wanted to attack them. [Dressing like that] is like adding fuel to the fire”."

#Legit

Sidewalk Love Affair: "No one loves a needy man, not even himself... If you’re running after her, afraid to lose her love? You already have."

The funniest 9min history of Japan you'll ever watch.

Training "Stop being a child, take some accountability and have some follow through."

2/3 - press, chins, dips, bench, inv row, pushups, speed bag, stretch

2/2 - shadowbox, stretch

Always Hungery - John Welbourn: "What do I recommend? How about growing up. Stop being a child, take some accountability and have some follow through. If you want to get your weight down...  then don't crash and emotionally stuff your face with donuts. You are not an 18-year-old girl who just moved away from home and is enjoying unlimited soft serve in the college dining common...  Finally, years ago my dad gave me the secret to success in life: Consistency. He told me to get up early each day and work. And to take everything I did with great pride; success breeds success."

Actor Scott Glenn, 75, Takes You Through His Knife-Fighting Workout | GQ: "Quick, imagine a 75-year-old man. What do you imagine him doing? Do you imagine him doing pull-ups or straight leg raises? Deep sea spear-fishing, fending off sharks in the process? Did you envision him fighting with knives, racing motorcycles, or ice climbing? No? Then you must not have pictured Scott Glenn. Because he still does all of those things. (Well, fine, not the ice climbing, but only because his doctor told him he couldn’t.) His relentless adventuring helps explain why he still looks like he does at his advanced age. So consider this a helpful bit of motivation for anyone who’s already 75—or, you know, plans on getting there one day. Glenn, for his part, is still hoping to do more. “If I’m still a beginning student by the time they throw dirt in my face, so what?” he says. “At least I’ve had the fun doing it.” In this video, he tells us about his workout routine and takes us through some of the martial arts he does with a very large, very sharp knife. “You don’t want to do it too fast,” he says, “because what I’m holding is potentially lethal.”"

vsflex's Progress Pictures - BodySpace by Bodybuilding.com: "TRANSFORMATION! Curious to see where I started? Back then I was active and still strong from gymnastics days, but had no clue what I was doing in the weight room and ate anything and everything I wanted. I've learned a lot in the last few years and worked hard every day. Soft 90-95lbs to a current lean 107 :)"

Venture Bros. S6 - The Return of the Funniest Show Ever about Failure.

The Mad Genius of ‘The Venture Bros.’: TV’s Craziest Cartoon: "...it’s almost impossible to know where to begin if you want to explain the hilarious, incredibly dense, subversive comic book universe that is the long-running Adult Swim cartoon, The Venture Bros.  

The simple answer is this: The show started out as a parody of Jonny Quest, the ’60s cartoon about a boy adventurer and his super-scientist dad. But The Venture Bros. explores a world where there are actual, real-world repercussions to a childhood that was spent battling costumed villains and all manner of super-powered beings with plans for world domination, many of which saw kidnapping him as a means to that end. As you’d expect, Dr. Thaddeus “Rusty” Venture has grown up to become a pill-popping, seething cauldron of insecurities and neuroses, resentful of his far more successful father, and wholly unable to get over the fact that he peaked in celebrity and promise as a 12-year-old. He hasn’t “invented” much of anything that isn’t a rehashing of his dad’s now-obsolete 1960s gadgets, and he’s not even a real doctor, clinging to an honorary degree to cover for the fact that he never graduated from college.

In his desperate, pathetic attempt to live up to the life that was both thrust upon him and promised to him, the familial history is repeating itself, this time as comedy. His two sons, Hank and Dean, are emotionally stunted, Hardy Boys-ish goofs, isolated on Dr. Venture’s sprawling compound, homeschooled and socially inept, way too eager to leap into the next battle against Dr. Venture’s many antagonists...

The larger answer to what The Venture Bros. is: It’s a show about failure. Not just Dr. Venture’s personal failures, but also the failures of the ’60s jet age to live up to its promise...

“It’s me voicing my disappointment that we don’t have that kind of magic going on any more, that level of enthusiasm and hope,” creator Jackson Publick said in a Reason interview. “That extends to the kind of cultural stuff that was going on in the ’60s, a youthful generation thinking they could change the world. I’m voicing my displeasure at having been born in a time when some of that magic, for lack of a better word, is gone, and some of those promises that were made in all of our pop culture were never met. My laptop is the coolest thing that’s come out of that. I’m still waiting on my jet pack.”

As writer/producer Doc Hammer added in the DVD commentary to the Season One episode, “Home Insecurity,” failure is the thread that ties all the characters together.  “It’s about that failure happens to all of us,” he said. “Every character is not only flawed, but sucks at what they do, and is beautiful at it and Jackson [Publick] and I suck at what we do, and we try to be beautiful at it, and failure is how you get by...It shows that failure’s funny, and it’s beautiful and it’s life, and it’s OK, and it’s all we can write because we are big failures.” That might scan as bleak or morose, but I guarantee you, The Venture Bros. is a comedy—and a hilarious one at that...

"But just for fun, watch me build my case for a rigged election."

Scott Adams Blog: "As I have said in prior blog posts, the stock market is definitely rigged. I say that with certainty simply because it is possible, the risk of detection is low, and the gains are enormous. Whenever you see that combination, crime is guaranteed. 

 The Iowa caucus might be an exception to the universal law of human awfulness. We can hope that is the case. But keep in mind that it would only take one player to rig the result. 

 Now consider that a healthy percentage of the American public believes Donald Trump is literally a Hitler-in-waiting. If an American patriot in Iowa had a chance to take down Hitler and save billions of lives, I hope he or she took the shot. That’s what I expect of my fellow-citizens.  As a thought experiment, put yourself in the shoes of an Iowan who has the opportunity to rig the Republican caucus vote. You alone might have the power to stop Trump-Hitler. If you don’t, the next Holocaust is on you.  What do you do? As an American and a patriot, I hope you rigged the election to save us all from Hitler. If you didn’t take the shot when you had it, why not? 

If I were in that situation – and I believed in my heart that I could stop Hitler – I would feel obligated to do it. How could you feel otherwise? And if I were a GOP establishment person who just wanted to keep the military-industrial machine intact, I would have that motive as well.  I’m not saying the Republican caucus in Iowa was rigged. All I’m saying is that the result looks exactly like it was rigged, and the people who had the opportunity had the best motive in the history of all motives. You might say they had the mother of all motives and a few aunts of motives as well.  

 As I was having these thoughts last night, some folks on Twitter mentioned that Republicans were using a new Microsoft app to tally results. Apparently that system was a bit buggy. Microsoft provided the system for free.  Oh, and Microsoft is Rubio’s biggest donor. "

"Anyone who believes programs like COINTELPRO and Operation Mockingbird were anomalies limited to a peculiar set of historical circumstances... is engaging in some pretty powerful denial."

“Holy smokes, this stuff is all real?”: How I get my best ideas for thrillers from the good ol’ U.S. government - Salon.com: "Whenever people ask where I get ideas for my thrillers, I say, “Direct from the U.S. government.” They laugh, but it’s true—in a time of detention (indefinite imprisonment without charge, trial or conviction); enhanced interrogation (torture); targeted killings (extrajudicial assassinations); and, of course, the unprecedented bulk surveillance revealed by whistle-blower Edward Snowden, third-party villains like SMERSH and SPECTRE and the rest can feel a bit beside the point. Indeed, when the NSA, in its own leaked slides, announces its determination to “Collect it All,” “Process it All,” “Exploit it All,” “Partner it All,” “Sniff it All” and, ultimately, “Know it All,” it’s safe to say we’re living in an age of “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Does that claim sound extreme? Have a look at this National Reconnaissance mission patch. What is this Octopus doing to the earth? There are two things worth noting here. First, a giant octopus strangling, eating and/or otherwise assaulting the earth is how our intelligence apparatus (which prefers the friendlier nomenclature “intelligence community”) perceives itself. Second, that apparatus has become so detached and unaccountable that it now believes this kind of logo will create a favorable impression among ordinary people."

Between the Lines with Maverick Novelist Barry Eisler | THE BIG THRILL: "Your background gives you keener insights than most on our government’s geopolitical realities and political fallacies. What do you feel is the future of the U.S. government’s surveillance? What role do you feel the public needs to take in order to safeguard its rights? 

You’re nice to tie my insights into my intelligence background, and I’m sure the background helps. But more important, I think, and more widely available, is just a little more thoughtfulness about what not just the dangers, but the guaranteed outcomes, of unaccountable government power. Anyone who believes programs like COINTELPRO and Operation Mockingbird were anomalies limited to a peculiar set of historical circumstances and having nothing to do with immutable laws of human nature, or that the Stasi and KGB were artifacts of foreign cultures and could never take root in what we’re told is a democracy, or that something about America is inherently antithetical to the growth of an oligarchy, is engaging in some pretty powerful denial. And denial, as the saying goes, has no survival value."

Training.

2/1 - power cleans, squats, box jumps, situps, shadowbox, bench pistols, stretch

1/30 - shadowbox, stretch

 We 'Mirin Vol. 130: 10 Amazing Physiques:

Deadpool is your feel-good, heartwarming rom-com of the year.

#TrueStory  #'ish

True Love Never Dies In Romantic New "Deadpool" Banner | Comic Book Resources:

"

"The alternative is you being eaten alive inside."

"I figured that if I don't rock the boat, we'll be alright.  I never fought back, I never spoke my mind, I just kind of bottled it all up..."  #TheStruggleIsReal

I laughed.

Pretty hard.  Because I'm a bad person.  Still, funny.

Reader Mailbag: Racial Issues and the Alt Right | delicioustacos: "My relatives watch Kirk Cameron Jesus movies, so I’m not gonna talk shit on Tyler Perry Presents: Some Shit You Stumbled on on Basic Cable That Made You Think Maybe “The Bell Curve” Is Right...

Racism is wrong. But then you read white people’s anti-racist Facebook posts. Gawker comments. White liberals are cringing lying toadies and you get this reflex to jump to the other side. Whoever they’re against I’m for. This pussy hates Hitler? This Hitler fellow, I like the cut of his jib. Newspapers and TV, staffed exclusively with careerist pieces of shit. So: MSNBC/ Fox/ whatever other garbage bullshit detergent selling infomercial lying money grubbing TV network is shocked and appalled by Trump? Where do I donate?"

"Listen, slippery meets slope."