Things I Learned at the Gym

 

  • Henry Rollins once said that the iron doesn’t lie. And he is correct.
  • The treadmill doesn’t lie either. You can’t lie to yourself about how fast you’re going or how hard you’re working. There is no stopping to look at something interesting, no stopping to take a sip of water. You either keep pace, or you fall on your face.
  • Most of the trainers I’ve met are nice people whose profession is helping people out. Of course they’d like you to be their client, but that’s business.
  • I’ve been complimented on my flexibility. It doesn’t matter whether or not you can lift 200 pounds if you can’t reach your shoelaces.
  • If you go to a gym, you will encounter a vast array of physical fitness levels (well, most places anyway). Remember that each one of them needs to be paying attention to their own workout; chances are they don’t care what you look like — and will only notice you if you’re clearly in trouble. They’re not laughing at you. They aren’t “miring” you.
  • There appears to be a small number of songs that will never go out of style as far as gym playlists are concerned. Iron Man is on that list.

BAMTOR is Back

Remember that Banks Always Make Their Own Rules?

So then here’s a story that has two sides, after a fashion. On one side, banks know that if there’s a back door to their communications that governments can use, there is by definition a back door that Bad Guys can use*. On the other side, these same banks have a history of not exactly being Good Guys themselves, and some are rightly pointing out that this same security prevents the legitimate government action of rooting out and punishing unlawful actions.

Ha right, like bankers get prosecuted! Now there’s a good one.

In Closing: Def Con; darn math; back to school preview; bunker; fun; not so much fun; more TPP; and LLAP.

* I know, I actually agreed with something That Asshat Michael Chertoff said! Alert the media.

A Whole Weeks Worth of Economy in One Post!

So USA Today has helpful hints for people of my generation towards saving for retirement. Unfortunately they forgot Step 0: have a job with a retirement plan and that pays well enough that you can actually save money.

So then, about jobs. Earlier this week, the jobs report came out. The good news is that there are more jobs. They’re even paying a bit more — by a whole $0.05 per hour (don’t spend it all in one place, kids). Yet still, unemployment claims are up and Very Serious People are speculating about plateaued progress and  The Next Recession.

Just maybe that’s why consumer spending and factory orders are down.

Even so, I am NOT among those calling for the Fed to avoid raising interest rates. For one thing, the Fed doesn’t have as much control as many people think. Second, the last several years should have proven that the interest rates banks charge one another really doesn’t have much to do with whether or not your boss gives you a raise. Third, I’ve been saying for a decade now that super low interest rates don’t actually stimulate the economy. Yeah, we’ve had super low interest rates for a decade now. Maybe if interest rates went up, corporations would spend some of their cash.

Of course, if you are very wealthy, the economy looks just great. Remember that when you listen to the 2-ring circus we’re calling “2016 presidential candidates.”

In Closing: Warren Buffet has single handedly prevented many unwanted pregnancies (and probably a few cases of cancer); The TPP is on life support, but still out there and it still is a no good very bad thing for average people; ain’t nobody but spies like us; more studies tell us the same damn thing; I am still not sure why anybody ever thought this was a good idea; to hell with the H-1B program.

I sure hope the afterlife has bubblegum

The Earth bids farewell to Rowdy Roddy Piper.

In Closing: I have a problem with the fact that a night in jail can be a death sentence; the TPP is still out there; the NSA is scaling back; Too Big To Fail; the other lion; who the hell are the parents who make it necessary to say this??; the same guys who say kids under 2 must never see a television running and grocery carts are evil want to be in a tizzy that doctors are not doing the nurse’s job; can’t kill the beast; soybean oil.