THE BESTOF’S
Make yourself comfortable, we have a LOT to get through.
BEST IN SHOW
Every week we see clear examples of the enemies of Western ideals subverting—or outright attacking— these very ideas and the freedoms contained therein.
Instead of cutting them off at the knees, we have, for years now, been riding shotgun for them such that they are free to manoeuvre while we are painted into a very sticky corner, where any commentary much less criticism of such is shouted down as racist, bigoted, hate, control or oppression— pick your word of the day.
The sentence you’ve just read would qualify.
And manoeuvre they have, so today, a disturbing little montage of where that particular strategy has got us.
Just to this point.
Beginning with the backwards-thinking of a British MP demanding the reintroduction of blasphemy laws.
An idea that should be immediately and summarily dismissed because you’re in a liberal democracy. And by contrast to the alternatives it might as well be the future. One not limited to but including higher levels of prosperity, education, health, and happiness.
You’ll note I didn't say ‘perfect’, incapable of making mistakes, nor denying of them.
And, in this instance, it’s not because stating the fucking obvious is now required but because it’s precisely that self-reflection that serves as the mechanism of correction leading to all those outcomes detailed above and more, as opposed to their opposites found in every alternative to liberal democracy still inhibited by its (self-reflection) absence.
Because while a liberal democracy might as well be the future, it’s only because alternatives remain so resolute in their commitment to an unenlightened past or equally unenlightened future.
They are anchored to it because, again, there is no error-correcting the idealogy or religious text: that part is perfect. The only work to be done is getting everybody else on board so they too can be endlessly corrected, in a theocracy, or serve as more grist to the ideological mill, like those already unfortunate enough to live in them.
So any MP in a liberal democracy making such a suggestion should be laughed out of the room because you’re in the wrong place for that, mate. And— to here state the now required obvious— not as any rejection of ideals like tolerance, inclusion or diversity, either in spirit or practice, but in defence of them.
And much more besides. There is a process in digital music called quantization whereby everything is snapped to a grid—to the beat. Everything is artificially ‘corrected.’ The defining and uniting —across all styles— feature of this process is that it makes the music unlistenable.
Quantization removes the ‘music’ because it removes the humanity.
It’s so right it’s wrong. The swing, the funk, the soul, the groove, the grandeur, the majesty, the melancholy, the beauty —pick whatever your musical poison— but they all come courtesy of mistakes.
Were I speaking to somebody who might take offence at blasphemy then, depending on circumstance, I would likely observe that— to not offend them. The person concerned—and I— would then both know that was because I chose to, not because I had to. If I didn’t, they would know that too.
When conforming to scripts — ideological or religious— we only quantise the dynamics of true social interaction: the fuzziness— and yes, the messiness— that are fuzzy and messy because they are human.
Under the cold, robotic templates of religious dogma or Stasi-policed wrong-speak, nothing is real. And everybody knows it.
There be dragons. And you know this, man.
Living in a truly liberal, diverse society inevitably means confronting beliefs and opinions that offend and challenge yours to the core. That’s the price you pay for living in a free society.
Closer to home we have the kowtowing to bullies.
On a brighter note, and in the spirit of Thanksgiving just past, here’s Scott Sonnon from TACFIT on the science of gratitude.
Gratitude is not just an internal practice; it’s something we embody. Embodiment—or attunement—refers to the integration of mind and body, where the values and behaviors you practice internally become evident in how you move, interact, and live.
https://tacfit.com/the-science-of-gratitude-by-scott-sonnon/
Being too busy for exercise has been a problem for some time. Here’s how the ancients managed it.
I haven’t read the book, but, interestingly, a professor at Brown University has conducted a study revealing the effectiveness of mindfulness and ‘new neuroscience’ for weight loss.
Interesting, because this new neuroscience very closely describes the Leftfield approach for over a decade now and, in that respect, is noteworthy only for being twice as late to the party as usual.
I’m not suggesting plagiarism, I’m just always bemused by those claiming their ‘development’ of a technique when the curriculum of mindfulness—and its benefits across the board— has been around a good deal longer than its recent popularity or neuroscience suggests. Roughly two and a half thousand years longer, give or take, than neuroscience, in fact.
If you’ve been reading here for a while you’ll recognise each of these points has been written about here repeatedly. Although he has come up with an acronym for it. So there’s that.
In any case—should you make the necessary fat for weight correction— it’s useful information all the same.
https://bakadesuyo.com/2024/11/lose-weight-2/
All Leftfield programs have ‘the constants’: those drills that either offer an outsized, disproportionate ‘what-the-hell’ effect, they pull double, triple or more duty in addressing multiple areas simultaneously, or are simply so critical they can’t be overlooked even for one training block.
No mean feat when fitness, like everything— not surprisingly— is always a question of tradeoffs, and only more so because whatever you’re not addressing directly is in an immediate state of decay.
So you have to earn your spot in any program much less in every program.
Training to develop or maintain the physical quality of power— force x velocity— is an attribute too readily discounted by, and for, the general population.
You may no longer be busting tackles, slipping punches or smashing the leather off a cricket ball, but that it's never cited in the standard list of fitness goals proves its importance goes unrealised.
Either people see it as useful only in that athletic domain and/or they are afraid of it because— by contrast to other exercises— it might seem extreme. But like any exercise, it can be scaled to the individual and you can be throwing a medicine ball or a pillow at a wall, but either can be done powerfully.
And when I say important, I mean should you trip and find yourself rapidly rendezvousing with terra firma, suddenly incentivised to position a hand or arm protectively, or otherwise orient yourself in space, quickly, it's power you'll be summoning. Or sorely missing.
This cannot be understated— in life, 'important' typically comes with a requisite tempo. Imperatives are, by definition, essential or urgent.
Get out of the way!
Run!
Duck!
Move!
There are the quick and the dead so this is a Leftfield constant and, at minimum, a part of every warmup. Here, Z-Health, to further underline its importance and relevance to all— yes, you included— introduces the term Powerpenia and an easy way to combat it.
If I’m walking and I trip, I, it doesn’t really matter how much I can deadlift. It matters how quickly can I use those muscles to correct my loss of balance.
https://zhealtheducation.com/blog/the-best-way-to-age-slower-proven-by-research/?
Mobility, strength, rehab, prehab, and primal— you’re made for this— movement, hanging is another Leftfield Training constant now, in one form or another appearing in every—injury excepted, obviously— program. Play along at home.
Of all the infinite variety of exercises and mobility gadgets and secret protocols out there, the most effective solutions are often those hiding in plain sight.
GTG (grease the groove is a methodology that can’t be done within the constraints of any session, but is an approach you can adopt at home, in near invisible fashion, that offers the same outsized rewards for minimal effort. This is specific to pullups but you can apply the same— high frequency, low intensity— concept to any exercise.
And another constant! Rocking is a reset— a method of calibration across the muscular, vestibular and skeletal systems, tying limbs and core together to work in harmony. And while we can and do employ it for myriad reasons as detailed in the article below, it’s also how we bow out of every training session. And by doing so it switches our system into recovery mode —where the magic happens— before we even leave training.
Rocking is approachable for anyone, no matter your fitness level or experience. It works as a warm-up, an active rest between exercises, a way to cool down after a tough session, or even just something you do throughout your day at home. You can do it on the floor or even from a chair or standing position.
https://mailchi.mp/originalstrength/rolling-8487768?e=f197052f90
Feeling ‘tight’ is a common problem. Stretching that tightness is the near-universal reaction.
But true muscular shortness is but one of eight possible reasons — and many more combinations— for said tightness and this makes stretching, probabilistically at least, unlikely to help.
Even then stretching is unlikely to offer much in isolation and would be best employed alongside other methods like active-release, foam rolling and joint mobilisations.
Worse still, this tension is— again, probabilistically, far more likely to be, in some respect, protective— so stretching is only feeding the problem.
Even if it feels good.
A happy update and appendix to a March post with the welcome news your instructors are introducing the SafeWrap.
Hallelujah. And because of what the mayor failed to mention — and many, many more unnecessary incidents besides— not a moment too soon.
Hopefully coming to a police station near you.
I would say definitely because the effect—not limited to reduced rates of injury or death to all parties— will be immediate and obvious, but we well know that reason is rarely sufficient to convince bureaucratic busy-bodies who, while knowing nothing about it— and unlike police, incurring none of the costs— will, nevertheless, insist on telling us all about it.
If SafeWrap became the new default for two-on-one restraint for arrests in America, we would have fewer viral videos because these arrests are unremarkable. They are boring, they are calm, they are deescalatory, they are communicative — there’s no inciting element to those videos
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
The bedside table is piled high but there’s also test cricket on.
TV
The final season of Yellowstone
APP
CLIP
Have a great weekend.
- OLI