THE BESTOF’S
What a difference a month makes. But not difference enough. Biden’s gone, but, despite endorsements and even the belated arm-twisted assent of the Obama’s, I don’t think Harris will be the nominee.
There’s not much time and following the high-fiving you’d think she’d be front and centre outlining a clear position and policy.
But no. And there’s a reason for that. Every time she opens her mouth she gets found out. Worse still, she seems to think if she just keeps talking she might figure it out on the way. Or that nobody will be any the wiser.
And she is wrong on both counts.
But the recent strategy to laugh at Trump is a good one. The ‘bad man danger to democracy’ argument is news to nobody and neither Trump nor his fanbase could care less, but his ego won’t stand derision and given enough ridicule rope he will surely hang himself.
Even then, the left-of-left Harris is seen as more of a problem for the undecided. And with good reason. Not-Trump would likely be enough for any of the alternatives—except Newsom— who can further stand on the fact that they are not Harris (or Newsom) either.
Any move towards the centre would do it, but with Gretchen Whitmer withdrawing there are only white guys remaining so we’re all stuck between a rock and a woke place. The Dems would see us all die on that hill with a Trump presidency, leaving but one alternative.
In emergency break glass: Michelle Obama.
BEST IN SHOW
A good article here in Big Think makes a similar point to the article featured in the Bestof: May about our taking things, on things, on things, on things… for granted.
But, it makes only a strawman case against the anti-progress ‘delusion’. In the Bestof March I recommended the book The Silence of Animals: On Progress and Other Modern Myths by English philosopher John Gray - who says that history is not progressive but cyclical.
But this is not the blind denial of the ‘good’— it’s hard to make an argument against anaesthetic— but only that these advances are offset by the bad, and, in every case, remain shackled to our human nature that has not changed in the slightest.
There’s an obvious middle ground here in which we can both recognise and appreciate ‘headway(?)’ while accepting Gray’s most important and sobering point: our perpetual use of the word progress—and the mistaken implication it only goes in one direction.
Nick Bostrom has made this point in his thought experiment The Vulnerable World Hypothesis but it’s neatly summed up in (the Tarantino written) film, True Romance when Alabama Worley reminds us, “But don’t forget. It goes the other way too.
Industrial civilization has become a victim of its own success: it has solved the problems of daily existence so thoroughly, and with such finesse, that the solutions and even the problems fade from our collective memory.
In other news:
Some good advice on how to get unstuck in all sorts of situations including the very common “waiting for the … spontaneous remission of all problems”
Hmm, I dunno, do you have any solutions that involve me doing everything 100% exactly like I'm doing it right now, and getting better outcomes?
While swathes of the population suffer sarcopenia and the litany of health issues that go with it, protein intake is still seen as purely as the domain of gym rats and body builders.
As I keep saying, unless you’re eating it at every meal—and possibly even then— you’re not getting enough of the basic building blocks of your body. Not a drama on any given day, but as a rule… Not good.
If you want to change that but lack motivation here’s Dr Rhonda Patrick speaking to Dr Luc Van Loon. They’ll sort that out. And if you don’t want to change that, they’ll fix that too.
To be clear:
Protein intake and muscle growth are both vitally important to YOUR overall health.
I’ve added a few of the timecode links below, and, as a special treat, my recipe for overnight oats (with added protein).
00:01:16 Why do we need protein?
00:10:10 How much protein do you really need?
00:14:58 Recommended protein intake when dieting for weight loss
00:51:55 Protein shakes vs. animal protein
00:54:58 Protein supplementation for weight loss & recomposition
01:26:25 Optimal resistance training frequency
01:28:22 Advice for elderly who want to start resistance training
01:30:49 Hormonal changes & resistance training
02:07:30 Luc's exercise routine & diet
Optimising Protein Intake and Distribution for Muscle Growth.
[Supplements of any shape or form do not substitute for an adequate whole-food diet or absolve us of the need to exercise. A protein powder offers an easy, cheap way to address a common—near universal— and critical dietary deficiency.]
I make this recipe—a huge bowl of it— on Sunday, stick it in the fridge and we eat it for lunch most weekdays. Protein powders can be full of crap but these (below) are fine (no affiliation). They’re all dairy-based but, of course, you can use plant-based. I use chocolate flavour for the recipe below: a spicy, fruity, chocolaty, hefty dose of protein.
https://www.aminoz.com.au/amino-z-whey-protein-isolate-wpi.html
https://www.aminoz.com.au/optimum-nutrition-gold-standard-100-whey-protein-powder.html
https://secure.chemistwarehouse.com.au/buy/91338/Musashi-100-Whey-Chocolate-2kg
OLI’S OVERNIGHT OATS
1 x Apple diced or grated
1 x Pear diced/grated
1 x thumb Ginger grated
1 C Frozen Berries
1 T Cinnamon
1/2 T Turmeric (not for taste but for the Curcumin. Also gives it a yellow hue)
1 C Desiccated Coconut
4T Pepitas
4T Sunflower Seeds
1 pinch Salt.
3-4 C or Rolled (not quick) Oats
Enough water or juice to soak
4 Scoops Protein Powder (stir through)
Leave overnight.
Portion and serve with a dollop of Greek Yoghurt. If the weather’s cold, you can also add more water and heat it up as porridge noting this will double the portion size.
Enjoy.
Maximising the palatability of your product is fair game—that’s capitalism. Interference in the political process to manipulate policy and subverting inconvenient research is not.
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the WHO wasn’t as useful as the UN?
More on what I’ve written about here and here and here.
Food manufacturers have not only “long denied that trans fats were associated with disease,” but actively “worked to limit research on trans fats” and “discredit potentially damaging findings.
https://nutritionfacts.org/blog/corporate-influence-and-our-epidemic-of-obesity/
Can you pass the test? As first detailed here back in 2017 - along with some relevant fixes. Get it sorted and then maintain it by doing it everyday.
You already putting shoes and socks on, right? Although probably not in that order. So why not enjoy great reward in the form of less pain, tightness and more mobility, coordination and balance for minimal— near-invisible— effort.
Unless you anticipate “the spontaneous remission of all problems without effort” above, this is as easy as it gets.
Almost as invisible only at the other end of the day, here’s GMB once again with an evening stretch routine for relaxation and recovery. A fantastic way to tackle that Stress Bod detailed below.
Incorporating gentle stretching into your nightly routine is a simple yet powerful way to improve your quality of life.
https://gmb.io/evening-stretch/?
Precision Nutrition on how chronic stress can affect your body, mind and emotions. And what to do about it.
These hidden stressors can be so constant that we don’t register them. They’re a part of the backdrop, woven seamlessly into our “normal.”
https://www.precisionnutrition.com/effects-of-stress-on-the-body-infographic?
Better names for existing things…
MISCELLANEOUS
Recommendations reflect what I’ve been reading/listening to/watching/using recently but, in most instances, and especially where music is concerned, will not have been released in the past month.
MUSIC
BOOKS
Rereading Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History—Kurt Andersen as referenced here.
…mix epic individualism with extreme religion; mix show business with everything else; let all that steep and simmer for a few centuries; run it through the anything-goes 1960s and the Internet age; the result is the America we inhabit today, where reality and fantasy are weirdly and dangerously blurred and commingled.
TV
The Olympics
APP
CLIP
Have a great weekend.
- OLI