Skin

Posted on January 17, 2017 by admin

Our skin speaks as to who we are. Much discussion occurs over skin pigmentation and what it’s supposed to mean, while very few understand what skin actually is. Scientifically speaking, skin is an organ– like the heart, liver and kidneys. Skin is the main part of the integumentary system, which regulates our temperature, while resisting heat, cold & moisture, so other organs & their systems can function.

Skin is also our first impression, and anyone interested in beauty understands the value of its care. It doesn’t matter whether the ancestry is European, Asian, African, Native American or Aborigine; without proper skin management, the sun and other elements will damage and wear it out, making it’s owner look older. They key for beautiful & youthful skin is to retain the body’s essential oils, while removing as much dirt, grime & other toxins as possible.

The face is most vulnerable, as the skin there is more oily and most-exposed to harmful UV-rays. Sunblock before outdoor sports and a broad-rimmed hat for strolls are essential. Women’s soccer star Mia Hamm (pictured below) has now revealed she has significant retinal damage from years of intense outdoor-light exposure. Sunglasses are now an essential eye-health tool.

Our skin is actually more than just us, it contains a microbiome of mites, bacteria, viruses, and other organic matter as it’s outer-most layer. The germaphobic response to this science (like everything else) was to create hysteria about it, then attack it. This has led to a rash of diseases, which are the result of the skin being dried out and stripped of its natural, protective microbiome layer. Many of these psoriasis, eczema, itchy/allergic skin conditions occur because of too much air conditioning & showering; especially in climates like Florida where the outdoor heat is extreme, and people haven’t properly adjusted themselves.

Climatizing yourself was discussed briefly in an earlier piece [1]. It is critical for good health, wherever you are, to climatize yourself to the outdoor temperature. Obviously, stay indoors when temperatures get too extreme, which is below 0 and above 100 degrees Fahrenheit; but with that said there is no way for skin (or any other bodily organ) to function properly, if it’s a shock for the body to step outside. This is now a common mistake, as many Americans are addicted to this lifestyle, and it’s a huge part of the current obesity epidemic.

By constantly and artificially moderating the indoor living temperature, an individual has no true sense of the outdoor environment. If you see someone dressed too warmly in public, you can bet they are addicted to heat-A/C. They typically are in poor health and have a weight/mobility problem, which is often self-inflicted through neglect. As excessive fat is retained, the oils & odors emanating from the skin become unpleasant, to put it nicely. To be real, it’s a sick joke on ignorant people, by greedy elitists. Note that this is now a problem affecting ALL generations of modern affluence, while much of the world is still starving.

Antibiotic resistance is another issue that starts to come into play with the excessive use of anti-microbial soaps. Pretty soon this unnatural selection leads to super-bugs we can’t control. Medicine and genetic engineering have their limits, and humans aren’t even close to understanding what & where they are. Any introduction of new products whether it’s GMO’s or new drugs & consumer goods, need to be weighed scientifically in all spheres; and that remains impossible under capitalism.

Being OCD about touching one’s face, picking at scabs, chewing fingernails, etc… is poor personal hygiene practice. Piercing & tattooing are by medical definition self-mutilation; obviously this is a personal choice that can be justified as self-expression, but note that it often comes across as a clichéd cry for attention. Know that line beforehand.

While we’re on skin, we must discuss hair which is simply an extension of our skin. Covering it from sun damage, and minimizing washings to prevent essential oils from being stripped away are the same themes. Becoming your own barber/stylist will also help your hair look better all the time. Scissor, clippers and a mirror with adequate light are all that is needed.

Skin and hair-care products should be plant-based. Petroleum-based products are toxic, so use organic for your skin & hair. Personally– I prefer cocoa butter for skin, and tea tree for shampoo. I shampoo once/week on average. Mostly I just rinse my hair in the shower, and use cocoa butter as conditioner.

On non-shower days (days I’m not working, nor very physically active), I use a soapy wash-cloth & sink. This allows me to hit the necessary spots: faces & hair, armpits, etc… with minimal time, energy, and water use. I live in Florida, where it’s summer from mid-January to mid-November– with global warming now. I spend much of this time indoors at home without a shirt on for clean cooling, as wearing too much clothing leads to excessive sweating & grime build-up. I use a towel between my skin and any furniture, and rarely use the A/C when home alone.

Any situation in which you are overheated and need rapid core cooling, COLD showers are a great skin management tool. Heat stroke is defined as the shut-down of the skin organ system. Perspiration, which is the body’s cooling mechanism, has ceased and the core temperature is beginning to rise. This can lead to coma and brain damage, if not reversed in time.

A more routine skin management tool is the dry rub, which means working the grime & excess skin off with a soft towel. This can and should be done throughout the day, as skin & hair begin to feel itchy and uncomfortable.

Speaking of uncomfortable, avoid the weave. I don’t know who precisely came up with this awful idea, but it needs to end. It’s 1) completely unnatural, 2) doesn’t work outdoors or when wet, 3) can’t be touched– just decoration, 4) costs a fortune to maintain, 5) leads to further scalp erosion and hairline loss due to the tension, and 6) MEN PREFER REAL HAIR.

Don’t be ‘relaxing’ it either, all those harsh chemicals kill those delicate hair follicles- making you bald, girlfriend. Go with the ‘fro; and if you can’t braid it– fade it.

Anti-perspirant/deodorant is a necessary evil in modern Western culture, as you just can’t afford to stink in public or around friends. Anti-perspirants prevent sweating; deodorants neutralize odor-causing bacteria. More-effective deodorants, means stronger chemicals. Antiperspirants are based on ingredients such as aluminum chloride, aluminum chlorohydrate and aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrate. These aluminum salts (which have been established as a neurotoxins), form a temporary blockage in the sweat ducts– stopping the flow of sweat to the skin’s surface. Apply judiciously, knowing it’s a low-level toxicity, is my only advice.

Obviously there are huge & powerful interests (cosmetics, fashion/modeling, etc…) which don’t want people to live & think the way I’ve described. Enacting what I have outlined above on a mass scale would end those industries as we know them, and it would be a giant step forward for humanity. The amount of toxic waste these industries produce is not doing our planet or species any good. One of the biggest issues we as homo sapiens are facing is the inability to look at our own skin, and the skins of others, honestly.

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Women Who Rock

Posted on January 2, 2017 by admin

I’m not strict when it comes to genres. You can rock any form, including classical music. There are plenty of women playing & conducting Mozart, the greatest rock-star ever. These are the women I (mostly) respect in the various popular music forms which have evolved from the 1920’s (birth of audio recording), up through the year 2000 or so. This review hits the highlights, and is by no means exhaustive.

Bessie Smith (1894 – 1937) was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s & 1930s, and a major influence on jazz singers:

The Carter Family were traditional folk music, the first vocal group to become country music stars. They originally recorded from 1927 to 1956, and still exert a profound impact on bluegrass, country, gospel, pop & rock:

Mahalia Jackson (1911 – 1972) was the ‘Queen of Gospel.’ She explained, “I sing God’s music because it makes me feel free. It gives me hope. With the blues, when you finish, you still have the blues.”

Ella Fitzgerald (1917 – 1996) is still the ‘First Lady of Song’ & the ‘Queen of Jazz.’ No one sings the Gershwins’ or Cole Porter’s songbooks better:

Billie Holiday (1915 – 1959) had a profound influence on jazz music, as no one sang with more feeling:

Patsy Cline (1932 – 1963) was country music’s biggest star. Her hits began in 1957, and continued until her tragic death. She was killed in a multiple-fatality crash of the private plane of her manager, under murky circumstances:

Shirley Scott (1934 – 2002) was a hard bop & soul-jazz organist. Known as ‘Queen of the Organ.’

Early-’60s New York girl groups totally rock:

So do mid-’60s New York girl groups:

As did the Phil Spector girl groups:

Joan Baez was the original female folk-rock artist:

The folk genre eventually became ‘singer/songwriter’ with artists like Joni Mitchell:

Nina Simone (1933 – 2003) was a true artist. She was a first-rate singer, songwriter, pianist & arranger who was able to work with (and earn the respect of) elite jazz artists such as Miles Davis. Simone was a civil rights activist when it mattered, and could work in virtually any musical style from R&B to classical:

Motown was the hit machine record label of the mid-late 1960’s, and the Supremes were label owner Berry Gordy’s top act:

Martha Reeves and the Vandellas recorded some of the most gritty & danceable R&B of the Motown hit-making era:

Tammi Terrell (1945-1970) & Marvin Gaye (1939-1984) is my selection for top duet couple. Terrell was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1967, and had eight surgeries before succumbing to her illness at age 24:

Maureen Tucker was the drummer for the Velvet Underground. Nico was the original bad girl, who became an artist no one understood. This is where they fit in chronologically, but really they’re ~20 years ahead of their time:

Shocking Blue was a late 1960’s Dutch psychedelic rock band, which has famously been covered by Bananarama & Nirvana:

Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane were okay, I guess:

Janis Joplin (1943 – 1970) was a raw & uninhibited blues singer. Excess led to her accidental drug overdose, after only four albums including the posthumous Pearl (1970):

In 1968, singer/songwriter/dancer Gal Costa became a part of the Tropicalismo movement, which was a Brazilian artistic movement whose anti-authoritarian & revolutionary expressions made them a target of censorship & repression by the military junta that ruled Brazil from 1964-1985:

Cuban singer Celia Cruz (1925 – 2003) was the ‘Queen of Salsa’, the most popular Latin artist of the 20th century:

Googoosh is an Iranian singer/actress of Azerbaijani origin, and the most iconic pop diva in the Middle East. She is famously known for remaining in Tehran following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, and not performing again until 2000 due to the ban on female singers:

Country music traditionally paired its upcoming female stars with moldy oldie males, in order to give them the boost they often needed. Dolly Parton was no exception:

Aretha Franklin is the Queen of R&B/Gospel, with the perfect blend of attitude and vocal power:

Tina Turner’s version of CCR’s “Proud Mary” is possibly the most-covered karaoke song in pop-cultural history:

As for Hollywood, Bob Fosse’s Cabaret (1972) is the likely greatest musical ever filmed, and Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles was a performance of a lifetime:

Same with the unstoppable & incomparable Barbra Streisand in Peter Bogdanovich’s What’s Up, Doc? (1972):

Bette Midler was a Broadway performer who made her film debut in 1979 with The Rose, a hard-hitting fictionalized account of the life & death of Janis Joplin– one of the most stunning debut performances in Hollywood history:

It’s a mystery why so many people hate on Yoko Ono, she was good enough for John Lennon (1940-1980), who always considered her an artist:

Jessi Colter was one of the few female country artists to emerge from the mid-1970s “outlaw” movement, which also featured Waylon Jennings whom she married:

The Swedish act ABBA helped bring disco to America, for better or worse:

Disco (1974-80) began as a street vibe, with DJ’s as artists & genre leaders. Disco was influenced by soul, funk, glam, reggae/dub & punk. It spawned new-wave, rap & electronica:

Disco was a genre dominated by women, and Donna Summer & Gloria Gaynor became its greatest artists:

Disco was an explosion of minority street culture, gay pride, and feminism. Acts like Sister Sledge, Chic & a host of one-hit wonders including: Shirley (& Company), Vicki Sue Robinson, Rose Royce, Lipps Inc, Anita Ward, (and too many others to list here) made some of the most enduring dance music ever created.

These and other cultural institutions birthed in the 1970’s, were controlled by corporate machinery through record labels & radio monopolization. This revolution in popular culture was quickly over-saturated and shamelessly exploited until its impact finally subsided. By 1980, disco was history and newly-arrived MTV was channelling kids into new wave (Eurythmics, pictured below) and pop metal:

For some, punk is what really rocks and Patti Smith was the original poet:

One of the greatest forgotten punk singers is Poly Styrene (Marion Elliot) of X-Ray Spex, accompanied by saxophonist Lora Logic (Susan Whitby):

The Raincoats were formed in 1977 by UK art students Gina Birch and Ane de Silva, inspired by the “anyone can do it” spirit of punk:

Blondie was Debbie Harry (singer/songwriter), with good help from (guitarist/songwriter/lover) Chris Stein– when he behaved himself. Blondie began as NYC punk, and quickly became the biggest crossover artists of their era. “Heart of Glass” is punk/disco crossover; “Rapture” is THE original rap crossover; and “The Tide is High” is rock/reggae crossover:

Anyone who ever tried to start a band knows that good bass players are hard to find. Punk/alternative has a long tradition of women on bass, starting with Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads):

Exene Cervenka was a lead singer for X, the legendary Los Angeles-based punk band:

The Slits (formed in 1976) in the words of band leader Ari Up:
“We felt naturally feminist without saying so. At the time you were expected to comb your hair perfectly neat and be glamorous, like the magazines tell you to be. You couldn’t be naturally sexy. I felt we were very sexy by nature. If we wanted to be sexy we were, but not to please men. We just did our own thing. In this way, we threatened society. The witch hunt was on. I was stabbed in the street, just for looking the way I did, by a guy who looked like John Travolta.”

Post-punk feminism exploded with Pat Benatar, Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders), B-52’s, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joan Jett, the Go-Go’s, Cyndi Lauper, etc…

The biggest MTV star, and icon of the 1980’s (and into the 1990’s) would be Madonna, who today is the indisputable ‘Queen of Pop’:

Cuban emigrant Gloria Estefan became the 1980’s biggest Latin crossover artist, sparking a global interest in Spanish dance rhythms & beats:

Country singer/songwriter Reba McEntire became the genre’s biggest female star, and eventually crossed over into Hollywood television:

Pop music always rules the charts & drives the industry. Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey became the next generation of divas that followed in the wake of Madonna:

Female bassists in alternative rock included Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth, pictured below), Kim Deal (Pixies), and D’arcy Wretzky (Smashing Pumpkins):

The Carpenters had a pop sound all their own in the 1970’s, up until Karen’s death due to anorexia in 1983, and (believe it or not) she is still cited by alternative artists as an influence:

Iceland’s Bjork debuted in 1988 with the Sugarcubes, and has since become a pioneer in electronica:

More conventional female singer-songwriters of this era included Suzanne Vega, 10,000 Maniacs, and the Indigo Girls. Among this genre is Tracy Chapman, a shy but gifted storyteller who never fit into the industry mold– talkin’ about a revolution:

With hip-hop exploding in the late 1980’s, Queen Latifah became the first female rapper to gain notoriety, and since has become a global icon:

Sinead O’Connor became a superstar when she released I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (1989), which is a gorgeous album of beauty, love & pain:

Perhaps the most enduring female artist of the alternative/underground era is PJ Harvey, a bona-fide, multi-dimensional punk diva:

Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville (1993) is one of the most stunning & sublime debut albums [a double!] ever released:

Belly’s Star (1993) had already been reviewed on this site: [1]

Babes in Toyland from Minneapolis were the hardest-rocking feminine trio ever, a total ‘no compromise– no brakes’ act:

Bikini Kill was the quintessential riot grrrl band, led by songwriter/vocalist Kathleen Hannah, and anchored by guitarist Billy Karen:

Where Women Are Today in Music:

The point of this exercise is to illustrate that women have always had a powerful voice in popular music. Feminists who scream that a woman’s perspective is still being suppressed, simply don’t acknowledge any of this musical history and therefore render themselves foolish in this discussion.

With that said, there are serious challenges facing women with a musical message today. Since the liquidation of grunge in the mid-1990’s, it’s been a constant corporate & political assault on musical freedom, leading to the homogenization & commodification of popular music:

What began as Sheryl Crow and Lauren Hill (both above), became Brittany Spears– as banality became institutionalized:

Soon after came American Idol & Hanna Montana, as the role for women in music became increasingly being channelled into cookie-cutter pop divas:

The industry model of making an album, followed by marketing & promoting it for 2-3 years is now dead in the age of the Internet & social media. Kids today move to new artists and fresher musical trends in the time it takes a superstar act to make their next record. A good example of this is Adele, who conquered the world with 21, but has stiffed with her recent follow-up 25. By the time 29 (?) comes out, her fans will have grown up and moved on:

What Adele (and others like her) need to do is re-evaluate their performing schedule, and make time to get back to writing songs, but the industry they work for won’t allow them that luxury. Why this isn’t possible, no one ever explains, because everyone is so focused on making money. The best new artists (male & female) will come from outside of this milieu, and smash this ossified bureaucracy with independent music & a new delivery model.

And music fans can’t wait.

HONORABLE MENTION
Sarah Vaughan
Linda Ronstadt
Carole King
Fleetwood Mac
Dionne Warwick
Loretta Lynn
Tammy Wynette
Emmylou Harris
Bonnie Raitt
The Roches
Heart
Gillian Gilbert (New Order)
kd Lang
The Vaselines
The Primitives,
Cowboy Junkies
Hole
Kate Bush
Alanis Morrisette
Sarah McLachlan
ETC…

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The Ambidextrous Athlete

Posted on November 26, 2016 by admin

Ambidextrous athleticism & functional strength go hand in hand. It is impossible to achieve maximum body strength without ambidexterity.

If the hips & back are a mess, then nothing significant can be done in athletics. Pain sources must be diagnosed, then released for any muscular rebuilding to occur. The epidemic problem of hip injuries has been discussed at length in earlier articles [1], as well as its rehabilitation protocol [2]. Applying ambidextrous sports training can help in this discovery and rehabilitation process, as the athlete is now opening up their entire body by using both sides repetitively & vigorously.

This article will speak in terms of right-handed being the ‘dominant & preferred’ side, and the left as being the ‘weak & off’ side, in order to maintain continuity. Lefties– reverse it.

Long-term statistical analysis of MLB records which go back over 100 years, prove conclusively that athletic peak is age 27. By the time a human has reached 30, he/she is well past that prime. Therefore any individual’s focus should shift from peak athletic achievement, towards maintaining health for life.

Most recreational athletes cease competitive activity by age 30, and have fallen apart by age 50. This is mostly because they never learned to be great athletes, and therefore have poor mechanics, even when it comes to their favorite sports. This leads to injuries which get progressively worse, then the breakdown of the dominant side of their body. Meanwhile, there is an unused left side which is neglecting into atrophy, yet in much healthier condition.

Games that can (and should) be used to develop ambidexterity include basketball, soccer & tennis. Any competent youth basketball or soccer coach will tell their kids they must be right & left-handed/footed, otherwise they are only half a player. Actually without these skills, you are less than half a player, as it is impossible to be fluid & powerful with an overdeveloped right side and an underdeveloped left side.

For a tennis player with tennis elbow or a right shoulder injury, putting a racket in their left hand and starting over is more than most macho maniacs can take, but it’s actually how to recover without surgery. Rotator cuff surgery is a sports-career wrecker, so it’s best to do everything possible to avoid it.

Ambidexterity starts with correct form and mechanics, which means taking it slowly to start, and using each training session as purposeful rehabilitation. This leads to steady improvements on BOTH sides of the body. The injured right side is being rested, while the once-atrophied left side is now being strengthened & honed. This develops better overall coordination with rapid improvements in mechanics, muscle gain & fat loss. Peak efficiency can now be approached, as previously-unused muscle groups now provide real work & stabilization. With a healthy & balanced body, much of the ‘thinking’ and ‘negative self-talk’ during competition goes away, and many of the previous performance problems are now solved.

Note: One of the biggest deterrents to ambidexterity for most athletes is their pride. Most male athletes have a HUGE fear of looking bad in front of others. When they stink in front of others, they shrivel up. This cuts them to the quick, which leads to the trash talking & carrying on you see everywhere today, all to deflect inadequacies. This type of ‘athlete’ will never attempt anything as serious as what I’m proposing. The point for these posers is to always look good on the field/court, at any cost, then cover up the rest with bullshit. As their saying goes, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you place the blame.”

The truth is, wherever there are sports injuries there are reasons. It’s usually either 1) traumatic injury, and/or 2) improper repetitive mechanics. The serious athlete needs to look at this left side as an unused canvas. This is their chance to start over (with experience & knowledge!), on a clean slate. As the athlete progresses with sustained focus, inefficiencies will inevitably show up and left-side muscular breakdowns will occur. These breakdowns need to be scrutinized as likely the same mistakes were made on the right side. This allows healing to flow back and forth, through the body. Every athlete should become a student of anatomy. There are so many muscles in the human body, with most of the focus on chest and extremities, to the point that the major core muscles (which really matter for functional strength), are often ignored– even by top athletes.

Sports are most enjoyed by its participants when they are a pain-free experience, or at least as much as possible. This means avoiding the chemical route and its nasty side-effects, many of which are unknown to the user until long after usage has ceased.

Today it is basically a consensus of elite athletes and their sports organizations which prefers surgeries & pharmacology as their primary injury-management tool. While there have been revolutionary advances in these scientific fields, their real-world application can be most-accurately defined as abusive over-prescription. The sheer number of surgeries for sports injuries, weight loss and other ‘cosmetic’ procedures is a complete disaster for consumers, who continue to be unhealthy at record-setting rates. Globally we now have a whole subgroup of people who are addicted to this culture, and this is presented as normal– even desirable, when in fact it is deeply pathological.

All surgeries contains inherent risk, including the most common risk-outcome of making the situation worse for the patient. Too often this is the result, as the cutting of bone, ligaments and cartilage (with its resultant scarring) is a common pathway to future disability. Eventually the surgeons say there’s nothing they can do, and it’s chronic pain as a daily reality.

The only way to avoid this and maintain any semblance of youth into middle age & beyond, is to follow these outlined recommendations, which are based on science. Nutrition, work/stress management, and exercise must all be balanced. As you become more ambidextrous, you will become more balanced in everything. This is the true path towards health & wisdom.

This ‘Fountain of Youth’ is inside of all of us, but it is only something one can achieve thorough due diligence & hard work. It means remaining pure of heart and being open to new ideas. It takes steady purpose and focused intelligence to push through the pain & ridicule one must endure to achieve ambidexterity, but once this status has been achieved, it outshines everything else.

Eventually we all give way into the eternal cosmic ash, but knowing that one was the best they could be is an existence to admire. As we age we are supposed to get wiser, but this only happens when we learn life’s most valuable lessons. Ambidexterity is a life skill, which means that it helps the individual in all things. Working towards this ideal balance & synergy brings out the best in our humanity.

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Hillary Clinton: A Political Obituary

Posted on November 13, 2016 by admin

Throughout ‘Election 2016’ there seemed little hope for Republican nominee Donald Trump, who could barely stop shooting himself in the foot every time he opened his mouth. This immediately won him the support of all the racists, bigots & reactionaries; which is enough to win the Republican nomination, but not the general election. Hard-core Republicans and undecided working voters needed Trump ‘under control’ just enough to justify their vote for a bigoted, sexist demagogue. This is a measure of how much working people hate Hillary Clinton & everything the Democrats now represent. For much of this past campaign, Republican loyalists distanced themselves from Trump, with many outrightly rejecting his legitimacy. Virtually the entire ruling establishment was behind Hillary Clinton in 2016, from Wall Street to the Pentagon/CIA to Hollywood & the corporate media.

The difficulties she had with Bernie Sanders in the primary have already been discussed here. The first major sign she was cracking in the general election, was her fainting from exhaustion on 9/11 at a ceremony at Ground Zero. Her physical weakness, and lack of grit was exposed– a huge red-flag. Trump & his strategists pounced on it, and it gave their campaign a much-needed shot-in-the-arm.

Hillary Clinton lied (as always) to hide her poor constitution, and the media covered for her, as they did time after time in ‘Election 2016.’ Every time a damaging Wikileaks exposure of her criminality was released, the media would go into overdrive to bury the content (red-baiting Russia), while scandalizing Donald Trump. The problem for the Democrats was: Trump plays that game much better. He can take a punch and isn’t afraid to get dirty. Hillary on the other hand had never really won anything, her New York senate seat & Secretary of State from 2009-13 were given to her as a part of political favors & back-room power-broker deals. Love & marriage– you understand, right?

Despite any of these dark forebodings, Election Day arrived with prognosticators and political physicians of all stripes pronouncing her fit for the presidency. Reuters gave her a 90% chance of winning, as voting was going on that afternoon. By 6:00 PM EST, a chill had blown over the Hillary camp, as early returns showed strong turnout for Trump supporters, with lagging enthusiasm for her campaign. This cold rapidly turned to high fever, as she lost North Carolina, Florida, Ohio & Wisconsin with losing projections in most of the remaining of the battleground states.

Evidently now realizing her entire political career was in the death grips of pneumonia, Hillary rushed out of the convention center where it had been planned for her to give a victory speech. In retrospect, it is doubtful she even considered a concession speech before then. The election hung in the balance from ~10:00 PM to ~3:30 AM, with Hillary now fatally diagnosed and privately convalescing on her luxury political death-bed, tweeting convulsively before & after her concession call to the man she previously insisted was “unfit for the presidency & dangerous to all of us.”

Today is Sunday, November 13th, and it’s been four full days (so Christian resurrection is now impossible) since the world learned Donald Trump is U.S. president-elect. Hillary Clinton is still lamely insisting (through the ever-compliant media) that the FBI email leaks in late October were what cost her the presidency. No mention anywhere of double-digit Obamacare premium increases across-the-board, which were announced a few weeks earlier. There can be no such honesty from a campaign as corrupt as this, even after it’s all over.

After those increases were made public, Donald Trump lyingly promised he would, “repeal Obamacare if elected!” That hit home for many, many underprivileged & overworked American voters– of all ethnicities.

When real competitors lose, they seriously reflect on what cost them. When spoiled losers blow it, they point fingers & blame others in order to deflect their own inadequacies. Hillary Clinton has huddled up with her team of advisers one last time, and they will instruct her on what to do & say. This entitled, post-modern feminist (what a mess that is!) was handed everything and never won anything. She just blew her last ballgame, which was for all the marbles, and she’ll never admit it’s on her.

Just ANOTHER item to add to the long list of: Things Working People Hate about Hillary.

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The Swift & Sudden Death of U.S. Liberalism

Posted on November 12, 2016 by admin

The collapse of the Democratic party, that was noted here on Election Night, is now in full view for all to witness. With nearly all the returns in, Hillary Clinton will win the U.S. popular vote by a (likely) margin of 1-2 million votes, despite losing the Electoral College which actually determines the presidency. Young people & energized Democratic party supporters everywhere are protesting the unfairness of this whole process, and they certainly aren’t giving any mandate to Donald Trump & the Republican party; yet all the major Democrats from Barack Obama to Hillary & Bernie on down, have pledged their support to an individual they had labelled as “dangerous” and “unfit” for over a year.

The air of unreality that pervades this whole post-modernist political drama makes it difficult for most observers to comprehend what’s going on? We the people are expected to absorb all this, much the way a television drama cuts to a commercial during a suspenseful climax. We are trained to go from watching the near death of our beloved hero, to soap commercials, and not question its rationality or propaganda message. TV leaves you on hold for next week’s episode, promising that by then everything will work out. That analogy applies here.

Class forces are in play, and make no mistake, that is what is ruling the day behind the scenes. The Clinton’s have been hustled off-stage, and escorted (by limousine) into political exile. Their hundreds of millions in money wealth will ease them. Hillary Clinton didn’t even bother to face the camera and speak to her shocked & disbelieving supporters (who needed SOMETHING from her) the night everything went down. That points to her overall class contempt for those who actually work & care, as well as her own personal gutlessness & banality. Not a serious thought in her head, really. [1]

The same goes for bourgeois feminism, black racialism (BLM), and LGBT activism; all of whom have nothing helpful to add. At this point identity politics must be seen for what it is; a middle-class construct meant to enable fear-mongering of sexism, white racism, and homophobia– all meant to stranglehold any class-conscious political discussion.

To be a socialist, one must understand events from a class perspective. Regardless of how the average U.S. voter decided (Dem/Rep), they are going to be the ones paying the bill under Trump’s capitalism. The working class vote for this demagogic billionaire was a Molotov cocktail thrown at the ruling establishment, but the only victory most of his supporters will get is similar to the vicarious pleasure of watching a favorite team win the Super Bowl. You get bragging rights and you can wear some paraphernalia to show others you are superior, but it really doesn’t help your everyday situation. You’re on your own for that, buddy.

That was the deal in voting for ANY capitalist party candidate, including the Libertarians & Greens. The plurality of the eligible electorate actually didn’t vote of either major party, as you can see here [2]:

This “Silent Plurality” remains ignored by most bourgeois commentators. When accounting for the billions of dollars that were utterly wasted on this entire ‘Election 2016’ campaign, it must be recognized for what it was, which is the worst boondoggle in political history in terms of cost & content. Nothing was ever seriously discussed, from domestic jobs & living standards to global warming & militarism. The corporate media was complete filth on every channel, and online, from start to now.

Any remaining energized Democratic party supporters that are still protesting, must soon come to the conclusion that their party is dead. The Democrats were set-up to win, yet collapsed in the face of economic realities. They offer no resistance to fascism, and in fact are now in league with them. They always were.

The best elements of the youth, workers, and all these above-mentioned disparate & shattered movements must find the correct political orientation, otherwise they will end up as worker ants without a queen, atomized & left to perish without leadership.

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Fascism Wins Election 2016

Posted on November 9, 2016 by admin

A political earthquake has just struck, as fascist billionaire and Republican candidate Donald Trump has won the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In what was supposed to be a victory party for long-time Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton, turned into an exposure of what she truly is– the biggest loser in modern political history. [1] This is a woman who married for power, stood beside her President husband after he was impeached in 1998 for lying about his extramarital affairs, then lost the 2008 Democratic primary (in which she was heavily supported & supposed to easily to win) to up-and-comer Barack Obama. Hillary played it smart & surrendered gracefully in ’08, settling for Secretary of State from 2009-13, authorizing & condoning war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya & beyond…

This ‘2016 Election’ was to be hers, but it kept hitting snags from the start. Bernie Sanders challenged Hillary from the left, and won 13+ million votes by identifying himself as socialist, meaning he stumped against the corruption of the Clinton’s & their like. Wikileaks dumps later revealed that high-ranking operatives in the Democratic party manipulated funding away from Sanders and towards Hillary Clinton in the primary. This may have been decisive for the Clinton campaign in outlasting Bernie Sanders to win the Democratic nomination.

If Bernie Sanders had won, he likely would have easily defeated Donald Trump (by 12-15 points according to polling), or any other Republican candidate (Rubio, Cruz, Bush…) by a closer but comfortable margin. Sanders shilled for Hillary Clinton after his concession at the Democratic convention, but most of his supporters abandoned him and his ‘new’ message. Many of Sanders’ primary supporters switched to Donald Trump in the general election, on the basis of BOTH their appeals to the working poor, which acknowledged the bad economy for most laborers.

The most-cited reason for young & newly-registered voters in choosing Donald Trump was their intense hatred of Hillary Clinton. The message to the ruling class was, when you put every resource in politics (Wall Street, the military/intelligence apparatus, Hollywood, etc…) behind the most obvious phony ever, the American people say “Fuck you!” and ‘choose’ a fascist bigot instead. Since there was no other choice, frustrated working people figured this would make a lot of rich people unhappy, and maybe feel some of their pain. It’s not so much stupidity, but class spite that motivated so many. The message has been received. Stock markets around the world have been sent roiling, as this is considered a disaster around the world.

Americans should step outside of themselves for a moment and start considering this (and other matters) from an internationalist perspective. A dangerous person has just become President of the United States. Make no mistake, Trump’s fervid supporters are among the most ignorant & brazen forms of human scum. Racists, bigots & haters are about to be set loose under Trump’s mandate. This is equivalent to Adolf Hitler being appointed chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. Even a few days ago it didn’t seem possible, and yet the impossible has now happened. [2]

The only positive that comes from this is that it is now obvious (to most) that human civilization has reached a crossroads. The necessity for organization, militancy and action among workers & youth everywhere just became much clearer. If Hillary Clinton had won, there would still be too many self-satisfied pseudo-intellectuals (feminists, black racialists, gay rights activists, etc…) posturing as progressives, while living as opportunists– protecting their own comfortable existence & nurturing their idealist fantasies. They have been a source of too much political confusion for too long, and in many ways they are most responsible for Donald Trump becoming president. Their blind support for Hillary Clinton (lesser-of-two-evils nonsense) in spite of her vast criminal record was unconscionable. These liberals ‘study’ the issues carefully before the election, check their ballots, then expect everything to be taken care of one way or another. Hillary was to be the answer to all their illusions, which have now been smashed on the rocks of sexist hypocrite Donald Trump.

Marxists remain objective in their assessment for the prospects of these liberal supporters, who have no explanation for what just happened. For many, their biggest disappointment in all this is the denial of their vicarious pleasure of this final feminist conquest. Many will be heartbroken for days over this.

For serious people, these are now serious times. The Clock on Humanity which was already been ticking, has now been sped up. A socialist revolution will be the objective task for the near-future, as there is nothing left resembling respectability in bourgeois politics. This ‘election’ was a disgrace on every level, as one fascist ego-maniac has smashed both political parties in 18 months time, proving the decrepitude of the existing U.S. two-party system.

It’s now the Wild West in Washington. The military, intelligence agencies and Wall Street will now begin to act more autonomously as President-elect Trump much resembles Hitler’s personality in his inability to think clearly and remain focused. Power vacuums will pop up like mushrooms everywhere, and power brokers will battle for political influence behind the scenes in an administration headed by an unstable, yet all-powerful individual.

Neither side was going to accept this ‘election’ result, so now the real war begins. For those interested in the fate of humanity, now is the time to strengthen political consciousness & resolve with Marxism. Socialism is the only solution, and anyone who says differently is a traitor to humanity. The traditional Republican party is now openly fascist, while Democratic liberalism is dead. Strikes, walk-outs, sit-downs and any other labor unrest needs to be wildcat in nature, meaning the trade union bureaucracy (controlled by the Democratic party and enforced by the mafia) must be cast aside & thrown out. Workplaces & factories need to begin organizing and uniting, as a massive police-state repression looms on the horizon. There is no running from this fight. The intention of Donald Trump and his supporters is clear, no respect for humanity or anything else. This must be met with resolve and physical force, as these people understand nothing else.

This become the fight for human survival: socialize or perish.

Final Update 2-25-17:

Whatever Donald Trump’s ego and unpredictability may bring, it’s no match for deeper class forces which are bearing down with full force upon his presidency. In his first month, Trump has proven himself highly sensitive to any criticism, which makes him extremely vulnerable to manipulation. His fascist aides (Sean Spicer in particular), now appear to have total influence on his decision-making. Trump’s only counter to this is the threat of their removal, which seems unlikely as he completely relies upon them. Remember, this is a president with no actual brains or scruples, only cunning avarice & delusions-of-grandeur, who is considered a ‘loose cannon’ by significant sections of the deep state. In this, he much resembles Adolf Hitler in that: 1) he can’t focus and is defined by his volatility; 2) he initiates high-level power struggles, then allows them to fester out-of-control at the cost of destabilizing the state; and 3) both were/are led-by-the-nose by their propaganda minister– Sean Spicer/Joseph Goebbels.

If we have fascism in America (and we certainly now do), then Donald Trump is obviously Adolf Hitler. The important Marxist theoretical question becomes, who is Joseph Goebbels? It is now clear that the propaganda-manipulating mastermind connecting Donald Trump to the deep state is White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

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Notes on ‘Soft Power’

Posted on October 24, 2016 by admin

Gleaned from ChangingMinds.org [1]

Power is the ability to get what you want. As what you want is often constrained by other people, the use of power often includes changing or influencing what others think, believe and do. It is at the heart of many techniques of changing minds.

Understand the power you have, as well as the power of other people. Use your own power carefully. Perhaps the greatest power you can have is to get others to use their power on your behalf.

Beware of sleeping dragons, many people will only use their power when aroused. The most effective power is that used so subtly that people do not realize it is being used.

Power does not have to be used directly: threats are often effective, especially when accompanied by displays of power. Like gorillas thumping their chests, we seldom need to fight.

When we talk about power, we can consider it as somewhere on a spectrum from ‘soft’ to ‘hard’. It can be difficult to define soft power, because it is such a subtle force. A way of defining it, is to start with what it is not.

Hard power

Hard power is, at the hardest, about physical coercion. Incarceration and physical punishment, control of the body is degrading but necessary for those who might otherwise harm others. It is also used in times of physical warfare and for repression of dissent.

Mental coercion, including blackmail and making other threats that create fear, is also hard. Fear is a characteristic of hard power. People comply because they fear punishment or being harmed in some way.

Moderate power

Much power is moderate. It is not hard, nor is it soft. Much of the power in society and in organisations is moderate. There is power from the positions that people are given, power from the resources that are held, and power from the individual influence people have. Yet seldom is this used in a hard way.

Power that might be hard is moderated by rules and regulations that control how it is used. Managers who once might have been rather coercive now have to consider employment law and company values. People in society who once may have threatened others must consider both laws and social norms. In fact most people are considerate of others and would balk at the thought of using hard power.

Soft power is a concept coined by Joseph Nye of Harvard University to describe the ability to attract and co-opt rather than coerce.

A defining element of soft power is that it is passive. It does not seek to persuade. It just is. It envelopes but does not resist when pushed. It goes with the flow, though it does not flee. It follows and stays in touch.

Soft power works not because it seeks to directly influence, but through subtle and indirect means. At best, it is completely undetectable. It goes around obstacles. It seeks inattention. It inveigles its way in through neglected routes. It spreads without notice.

Soft power does not ask. It shows. To create behavior, just act in the way that you want others to act. Seeing your behavior as worthy (and you as worthy), others may hence seek to imitate you.

Soft power works well for transmission of values. I act consistently with what I believe. If others see and appreciate these behaviors they may start to act in similar ways. And, by the principle of consistency, they will consequently change their beliefs in order to sustain internal harmony.

At its best, soft power connects, bonding with others. This connection of identity joins two people as one. When they become as you, then they will align in all ways. Soft power may seem to have little power, yet it can have far greater effect than hard power.

Have you ever been in an organization or a social group where one person is really likeable? They do not seem to ask much but somehow they have a huge effect on the group. Opposite to the effect of a ‘toxic’ personality, they seem to infect everyone around with their calm and positive ways.

In Tai Chi and other soft martial arts, soft power works by connecting so softly with the other person that they cannot feel your touch. In the connection, you sense where they are and hence can avoid their attacks, destabilize them and lead them in any direction of your choosing. Martial arts can also be hard, yet the softer arts, once mastered, are by far the most effective.

Beyond the good cop-bad cop routine, much can be achieved in interrogation through softer methods. Hard methods may break the weaker-willed, but those who know the most will likely be made more resistant by oppressive methods. A better way is to connect with the person, showing sympathy and interest in their lives and breaking through the tough stereotype, getting through to their confidence.

A good public speaker can move millions with soft words that connect and sway opinion. Speeches can also be hard and threatening, but they do not connect the speaker with the audience. The master of soft power in speaking can easily be seen as a saint and gain followers who will follow them to the ends of the earth.

Much use of power is short-term, with immediate or near-term goals. The use of soft power is a long game, with no immediate goals. With the advent of global markets and the Internet, the influence of other cultures and individuals is everywhere. Even if you do not use the internet, you are massively affected by it through the perceptions created in the people around you.

If you have the time and inclination, you can achieve much with the subtle and steady use of soft power.

How do powerful people behave? Here are some of the things they do, and why. In particular powerful people act either to get what they want or simply to sustain and enhance their power.

Using symbols

Powerful people often use the symbols of power to demonstrate to others that they are powerful. They dress in expensive clothes, drive new and powerful clothes. They have powerful friends and let others know this.

Power is often illusory, and is as much about confidence as anything else, with power being ceded by those who believe they have less. Symbols are consequently a part of the tool-kit that ‘powerful’ people use to persuade others that they have more real power than they perhaps have.

Truly powerful people are often understated in how they dress and how they use symbols. By an almost reverse psychology, they say ‘I do not need symbols’ and they live more by their reputation and the quiet knowledge that they can get everything they need. The symbols of power are still significant but in their absence rather than their presence.

Speaking more or less

Depending on whether they have a psychological need to be heard or not, powerful people will speak more or less. The more extroverted people will take the stage and pronounce for a long as they like, quite possibly in a louder voice.

Others will wait quietly then speak briefly but forcefully. Speaking at the end, after others speak is a distinct technique as it allows the person to take account of the useful information gained by listening to others. It also allows the powerful person to praise or criticize other speakers. As others have already spoken, it also allows the powerful person to close the conversation or change topic.

Rule-breaking

When speaking, powerful people will interrupt more. When they want to speak, they will speak rather than waiting politely for others to end. Speaking when they want is an example of how powerful people will break rules.

Powerful people will also touch others, breaking rules of ‘no touch’. This needs to be done with care and within stricter cultural rules, for example touching only on the arm, back and shoulders. Stronger rule-breaking may include patting on the head and gripping the other person.

Rule-breaking may be deliberate, to demonstrate the person’s power. It may also enhance power, for example when they interrupt another person, thus showing they are more powerful, pushing themselves up the hierarchy and the other person down.

Rule-breaking may also be unthinking as the powerful person is so accustomed to getting what they want that without criticism, they may act recklessly, damaging everything around them. On the other hand, they may use it as a deliberate signal, showing that by breaking a rule once they can choose to do it at any time they like.

Trusting more

When less powerful people trust more powerful people they may be putting themselves in danger, as when conflict arises between them, the powerful person will likely win. Less powerful people consequently are less trusting of more powerful people.

In the reverse case, powerful people know they punish others if they are not trustworthy and that they have the means to extricate themselves from a damaging situation. In this consequence there is less risk for them to trust and so they trust more.

Thinking less

People with less power may be harmed by people with power so they think carefully before speaking to powerful people. And because powerful people do not have to worry about what others might think about them, they think less before speaking.

Also, because they have the power to change decisions, they often think less before making decisions. On the other hand, if the decision might affect their power then they will be more cautious. For example a rich person will spend a smaller sum (which seems large to the average person) with impunity, whilst they will be more cautious spending large sums.

Thinking more

People with a focus on power may also think more, deliberately using the methods in this article in order to signal that they are powerful. Power is often ceded by those who perceive they are less powerful, and this response may be purposely prompted.

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The Corruption of Modern Sports

Posted on September 24, 2016 by admin

I write about sports a lot, and here is why? First of all, I love sports and have always good at them. John McEnroe once stated in an interview, “I never met a sportswriter who didn’t want to be a professional athlete.”

In that pearl of wisdom, McEnroe summed up the male ego aspect of sports reporting, in which every sportswriter is a ‘wanna-be athlete’ at heart. This shows up usually in the forms of ignorance & bias, which have been discussed at length already. [1] [2]

I must say in reply to McEnroe: I’ve seen very few professional athletes who DIDN’T think they would be good journalists or broadcasters. I freely admit I wanted to be a professional athlete when I was young, but injuries & other circumstances took me in another direction. There are literally millions of these ‘failed athlete’ stories, everywhere. What’s special is that so few people actually care to find out why so many of these young boys & girls are being injured. [3]

These youth injuries are mostly the result of ignorance in medical science, and an obsessive desire to win-at-all-costs, from the bulk of the youth sports coaches. Most youth-level coaches are dads, who themselves are ‘failed athletes’ bringing their lack of skills & knowledge to a new generation. The motive to coach is (nearly) always nepotism, as they all stop coaching when their kid advances past their coaching level.

This is likely the main reason skills are largely lacking in ALL sports in America, despite the now-widespread availability of top-level instructional video via the Internet.

Shown above is a nearly-perfect serve from Serena Williams, broken down in super slow motion, with all the analysis one needs. Every tennis coach in the world should use this video (or a similar version from Federer, etc…) to teach the proper technique to maximize power & skill, while avoiding injuries. Yet, most U.S. tennis instructors won’t even think to use something like this, as their own ego is their master. That largely explains why there is no American ‘heir apparent’ to Serena in women’s tennis.

I learned much of this when I was young, so as a middle-aged adult I have no regrets about my life in recreational sports. I am simply an athlete. I’m not a professional one, and much happier for that. Professional sports is a tightrope walk for an entire career, competing against the best, to become the best. That is how the best think.

That is also what drives them past the edge, when it comes to PED’s and other forms of cheating & unethical behavior. Eventually, everything comes down to winning, and ALL the best athletes (in every sport) are faced with this dilemma: do I lie & cheat to win? It’s the proverbial Faustian deal, and it always haunts the athlete; whether it’s detrimental health side-effects & pain/addiction cycles, or the threat of blackmail and eventual public disgrace from those insiders who know, and always tell in the end.

I don’t regret my failed attempt to be a serious professional athlete, having to compete against this mentality, which is 90+% of the way top athletes think & act. I’d rather be able to actively enjoy my life into (and past) middle age. The demands & stress on those striving to be the best causes many of them to immediately go into ‘breakdown mode’ upon retirement. Notice how many former top athletes are overweight & unhealthy-looking in their middle age?

I’ve written about the NFL [4] [5], NBA [6] [7], soccer [8], tennis & the Olympics [9] [10]. MLB is my main sports beat, with the San Diego Padres as the home team. Why the Padres? Because they are my new favorite team, and they get very little coverage in mainstream sports media. [11]

Baseball is the most historical game, with precise accountability, making it the best sport for connecting deeper social narratives. Baseball, like all other sports, has been overrun by greedy billionaires, commercialism, militarism, and entitled ‘superstar’ athletes.

I spend time on all this because these ideas need to be discussed and understood. Right now, what is published on this site is considered ‘unmentionable’ in mainstream sports media. Everyone mouths the truth, “Sports is a business,” and then immediately goes back to cheerleading their favorite teams and/or athletes.

All the staging for a sports event, with the incessant advertising & hype around it, are choreographed with specific ideological intentions. Values promoted by Madison Avenue in sports broadcasting include: alcohol use as a lure for sex, expensive & powerful motor vehicles for affirmation, militarism & conformity– all through brand association with top athletes. The best example of this is in NASCAR, which I’ve covered in great detail. [12] [13] [14]

Fantasy sports is a huge problem of sports addiction, meeting gambling addiction. Fantasy started in MLB, but is now most popular (by far) in the NFL. ESPN has been featuring Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournaments for over 10 years now, leading to all kinds of confusion over what is a sport, and what are the benefits of gambling? [15]

In short, Americans are addicted to sports. This wanna-be complex has destroyed the minds & bodies of several promising generations. Addiction to celebrity culture & winning is a crisis of capitalism, in which nothing matters except the brass ring. There is no longer any morality or ethics when it comes to professional sports, and when one realizes that every college, high school & youth league organization takes its cue for the professional leagues, then the magnitude of this human disaster starts to come into focus.

As a society, we must STOP pushing our children towards sports glory & professional athletic aspirations. In the vast majority of cases, it is one (or both) parents(s) pushing their own dreams upon their children. The child ends up resenting their parents, and either 1) gets hurt & gives up sports; and/or 2) ends up absorbing the values & methods of their hated father/mother when they reach adulthood.

Sports are about fun, fitness & healthy interaction. Those are its best values which need to be re-embraced. Money corrupts everything under capitalism. Therefore, the filth that seethes around professional sports must be rejected as a mortal threat to a healthy human society. If universal rottenness is the fate of our sports & recreation, then what prospects do we have in political economy & the rest?

The message is: Never give up on yourself as an athlete. Never cease maintaining & improving your level of overall fitness. [16] Do this without delusions of grandeur, unless you are already a genius:

Become a student of anatomy & physiology. Stay away from the pharmacology, as much as possible– all drugs have side-effects which is a serious issue. Pursue internal vs. external goals.

This is what a true athlete does.

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Shifting & Drifting: NASCAR Chase Nonsense

Posted on September 22, 2016 by admin

NASCAR kicked off it’s 2016 ‘Chase for the Cup’ at Chicagoland Speedway last weekend. The best promoter for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 was (as usual), a non-Chase driver:

The actual race was a microcosm of the entire 2016 NASCAR season, as Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Toyota’s were the fastest cars in the field. Martin Truex, Jr. (#78) is not officially affiliated with JGR, but his Furniture Row Racing team receives plenty of support and he is considered a ‘5th driver’ for Gibbs Racing.

The story on Sunday was #78 dominance on the track, then its failing the post-race laser inspection station (LIS). The LIS measures tolerances for aerodynamics of the car body, which are set by NASCAR. Jimmie Johnson (#48 Hendricks Racing) also failed post-race LIS. Under the existing rules, as ‘P2’ penalty would have to have been enforced on both drivers, with the 10-point deduction being more severe for Johnson, who would have been in immediate danger of missing the next round of cuts in the Chase.

NASCAR couldn’t let that happen to one of their most-popular drivers, so it changed the rules (again) in the middle of the season to clear both Martin Truex, Jr & Jimmie Johnson. This is the final NASCAR penalty report from Chicagoland 2016:

As you can (or can’t) see, #16 Greg Biffle & #43 Aric Almirola (both non-Chase drivers) were assessed the severest sanctions, P3 penalties for a missing lug nut and a broken stud. Newly-modified rules on lug nuts are already being pushed to (and past) their limits by many teams. Six to eight cars are chosen at random for post-race inspection. How random, is anyone’s guess? If every car was inspected after every race, surely more than half wouldn’t pass an inspection at this point.

NASCAR just announced that it will change its post-race inspection penalty structure for infractions stemming from the LIS, eliminating the P2 and P3 levels for those violations. The P4 level for LIS infractions remains, and violations at this level will remain “encumbered.” NASCAR is the only sport I know that constantly changes its rules during its regular & play-off season. [1]

NASCAR defines the concept of an ‘encumbered victory,’ meaning a driver would keep the trophy but would lose the other benefits of a win, meaning it would not ensure advancement to the next round of the Chase. The idea is to discourage blatant infractions of the rules, but still allow cheating at a certain level. The drivers and their teams are already two steps ahead of this NASCAR rule-tweaking, you can be sure. [2]

Note that having the fastest car doesn’t make Truex the best driver. Not by a long-shot. Check out his performance in NASCAR ScanAll starting at 2:45. [3]

2:45: #78 Martin Truex Jr. (the fastest car all day) crawls up her ass and exclaims, “Get that (expletive) #10 car out of the way. I want the bottom.”
2:48: #10 Danica Patrick (at the top of the track, up against the wall) says to her spotter, “I give these guys the bottom lane and it just confuses them I think.”

She’s correct, and once again proven a better driver than the race winner (and current Chase leader); she just has no speed in her team or car. Typical NASCAR nonsense, and this is how some people feel about them and their HQ in Charlotte right now:

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Hip & Back Rehabilitation Protocol

Posted on September 10, 2016 by admin

Now that we have identified major hip & back injuries, a rehabilitation & training plan is needed. This article extends what was discussed previously in “Undiagnosed Hip Injuries & Stubborn Fat Loss.” [1]

The first major issue in recovery is dealing with the psychological pain. The injury victim is now realizing the full extent of their injury, which is equivalent to a gunshot wound to the groin that nicks the back. It is useful to think of ‘expelling the bullet’ during the pain-releasing process, because that is what it feels like. There are likely many fragments, as the groin & lower back have been wiped out, and superficial muscle sheaths have been herniated. The cause of the injury may have been a malicious teacher/coach, ignorant/uncaring parents, or a friend’s betrayal. Anger, blame and acceptance are issues that need to be addressed during recovery. This is very much part of the mental aspect.

Pain is stored energy, and the proper method is to release it and immediately put it to good use. Tai chi & yoga principles are used in rehabilitation of hip & back injuries. This means creating energy with minimal circular movements, then flowing it through the body to release pent-up pain. This will create ‘popping’ sensations all along the nerve/muscle chain, activating atrophied muscle– all down the line. It will ‘pop’ at the downstream insertion and often flow to the next insertion point. This quickly activates long-line muscle tissue, which will stabilize & strengthen the injury victim.

It is wise to apply engineering principles to musculo-skeletal development, by creating triangles of muscle bands. Triangles are strong and allow a framework to ‘fill-in,’ as a road worker fills in a pothole with asphalt. Once a band of muscle has been lashed together triangularly, that area can now be flexed. Muscle groups can quickly be rebuilt in this manner, with maximum efficiency and minimal pain.

A couch or love seat can be useful, as the injury victim’s back will need soft support. Gently throw the hips onto the arm with the legs extended over. Work the injured side primarily, while releasing to the contralateral hip. The idea is to control the femur, hip and back in positions of flexion & extension. Work around the deepest source of pain to strengthen surrounding muscle. This bracing support is needed to go after deeper injuries. A beanbag on the floor is a great tool for this.

Do this rehabilitation at climate. That means no A/C or heat. Make your body one with nature, and it will be better. Use ice locally to cool overheated spots, and COLD showers for rapid body cooling. A fan is helpful for cooling during the workout. Fat-burning requires water, so hydrate often. If you have 12 pounds (typical) of stubborn fat to lose, you will add ~4 pounds of muscle, for a net weight-loss of ~8 pounds. That difference in muscle-to-fat ratio, is all the difference in the world.

Since all movements inferior to the head start with the hip & back, the flash-release of the stored energy (chi) will reveal other injuries downstream into all the extremities. The injury victim will soon realize that most of these injuries were caused by the original hip/back injury. A breakdown of the central hub, causes later breakdowns all along the human kinetic chain.

How do you know when you’re completely recovered? When the last of the pent-up energy transfers directly from the injured hip, into the opposing hip. Now the hips are re-connected, and the injury victim can work towards a one-armed push-up & Russian pistol on each side, cleanly & repetitively. That will prove total body fitness and protect against future injury. These exercises were reviewed in an earlier piece titled “You Must Be Physically Strong.” [2]

A clue as to when the injury victim is nearing completion is when he/she can identify the true injury line from hip to back, to contralateral shoulder. Since this is a spinal injury, there is a measure of paralysis in the back, meaning the contralateral vertebral spine is compromised. Some contralateral hip and trapezoid neural connections are short-circuited, leading to atrophy. How much depends on the origin & severity of the injury, but it always has some negative effect.

The hip needs to be mostly healed before the back can be aggressively rehabilitated. Protecting the back (which carries the spinal cord) is always primary to the human condition. Once the injured vertebrae are released (with fresh muscle support), the hip-back-shoulder injury line can be established. The hip-back-shoulder line is the true axis of this injury. It is around this line that the injury can be quickly & safely rehabilitated.

Energy can be safely flowed circularly around this axis, without risk of aggravating the deep injury. The energy that transfers directly through the injury line must still be controlled. This hip/back injury cut its victim in half. If they don’t rehabilitate, they will never be able to transfer energy from their legs & glutes, up through their torso, to their chest & arms for maximum torque & power. The untreated injury victim will always have to ‘leak out’ most of the energy, to avoid sharp pain in their hips & back. If asked to perform under this stress, in a life-or-death situation, they would certainly fail.

One way to train transferring energy from legs to arms is standing under an open door frame, pushing up with the hands and down (through the floor) with the feet. The areas that don’t allow transfer due to ‘leakage’ are the injury points. Work around them, to get to them. Expel all the bullets.

A few health benefits were discussed in the initial piece, so a few others of interest (to most) will be cited. Improved skin tone and health is a given here. More restful sleep and feeling much better about oneself are huge psychological benefits. As mentioned above, there are many types of pain involved here, so dealing with this will make one stronger in character as well. Whatever happened to originally cripple the injury victim may have be cruel & unfair, but that doesn’t allow it to become an excuse for not facing it and recovering. If one does have the strength & fortitude for this, he/she will have to put themselves through self-torture, in order to come out better than ever.

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Ric Size

Songwriter, Musician, Artist

Category Archives: For Women