I owe Sherri Nichols of our very own commentariat for pointing out, months ago, some things about Brittney Griner’s arrest that I’ve not read anywhere else. The short version: The idea that BG would be carrying her own bags in Moscow, even coming off the plane, is unlikely; the WNBA player was a rock star in Russia — one reason she plays, or played, there. The team would have handlers greet her flight and she wouldn’t need to lift a finger.
I don’t know at what point in the entry process her bags were searched, but the point is: There would have been ample opportunity to plant a vape cartridge in there before she reached that checkpoint. And given the timing of her arrest, almost on the literal eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (and during the troop buildup on the border) suggests this was a diversion dreamed up in the Kremlin.
You can really gauge the level of Putin love on the American right at how she’s being portrayed in that wing of the media: As a “lesbian pothead” (Rod Dreher) too stoned or dumb to know you can’t bring that shit into the country. First, we’re taking Russia’s word that her vape cartridge was cannabis? Maybe it was CBD. Maybe it didn’t exist at all. If Griner truly was a user, does anybody think those team handlers mentioned above couldn’t have gotten her a little weed once she was through customs/security? As to her guilty plea, it was explained at the time that it was a strategic move on her part, essentially throwing herself at the mercy of the court, avoiding a trial in hopes of a lenient, face-saving sentence of time served. It didn’t work. Big surprise.
As for Paul Whelan, whose glow-up on the right has been profound: We’ve been reading about this guy for a couple years here, as he’s a Metro Detroiter and his parents live near Ann Arbor. Mr. Clean Marine was dishonorably discharged from the Corps in 2008 for…let this excellent Detroit News 2019 explainer fill in the details:
He received a bad-conduct discharge in 2008 for attempted larceny and dereliction of duty. As a Marine clerk in Iraq, he had tried to steal $10,000 from the U.S. government, according to military court records.
He also used another person’s Social Security number to enter a military computer system and grade his own examinations, thereby advancing his rank and pay.
The court martial, along with the possibility Whelan was a spy, made lawmakers leery of getting involved in his Russian arrest, said his family.
Now. I want to say right here that it’s entirely possible, even likely, that Whelan was framed, too. From the same story:
Whelan was director of global security for BorgWarner until the auto parts supplier laid him off earlier this month in a corporate restructuring. He is an avid traveler who has visited Russia seven times in 12 years, his family said. He is interested in its history and culture.
In December 2018, he was in Moscow for a wedding when a friend, Ilya Yatsenko, gave him a flash drive, said his family.
Whelan thought it contained photos of a trip the men had taken to Yatsenko’s hometown a year earlier. Actually, it listed names of members of a unit of the Russian Federal Security Service, which replaced part of the KGB.
Given Whelan’s bad-conduct discharge and other marks on his record, it’s unlikely he was actually an American spy; I mean, what agency would want the guy?
His family has been working hard to make the case that, whatever his flaws, Whelan is not guilty and should be released. But he still stands convicted of espionage in a hostile country. It’s not the same as possession of hash oil.
The prisoner swap with Victor Bout was uneven, I’ll grant you. But he’s been out of the game 20 years; I doubt he’s returning to arms dealing like some Mafia soldier sprung from prison whining “I gotta earn.” Maybe he will, I don’t know. But he’s internationally notorious now. If he returns to his old job, we can put the Navy SEALS on his ass, I suppose.
It was just to release Griner, however. The repulsive temper tantrums among the Fox News crowd only show you the sort of people they are.
Deborah said on December 9, 2022 at 11:17 am
Excellent points I have not read before either, except what Sherri has said in comments. Why isn’t this out there more. Hopefully it will come out now that Griner is back.
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nancy said on December 9, 2022 at 11:17 am
And one more note: Whelan was arrested in 2018. Who was president then? Who had a special relationship with Vladimir Putin? Who took zero steps to free this American citizen?
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Deborah said on December 9, 2022 at 12:04 pm
Not to mention the thousands of taliban prisoners Trump traded for absolutely nothing while he was president.
Scout, what’s up with Sinema?
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Sherri said on December 9, 2022 at 12:43 pm
I’m not Scout, but my guess is beyond her incredible narcissism, she’s got polling that makes it clear she’ll get crushed in a primary.
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Peter said on December 9, 2022 at 2:10 pm
Nancy @ 2 – Ding Ding Ding, Winner Winner Chicken Dinner. You didn’t hear the shills at Fox talk up Whelan in 2018; but come January 21, 2021, and he’s suddenly the Greatest Martyr Of All Time.
The love these chuckleheads have for Putin is just disgusting.
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FDChief said on December 9, 2022 at 2:13 pm
The wingnuts are lying. Yawn. Wake me when there’s news.
But the real tell here is that they are intentionally eliding the point. The purpose of being a citizen is that you are under the authority of your government. That gives it the authority to, say, punish you for stealing or smoking crack.
But it also gives it the authority to demand that foreign governments and actors respect your rights. That’s been the case since “civis Romanus sum” was the way of saying “mess with me and you mess with the biggest and baddest Great Power in the known world”.
Both of these are U.S. citizens and as such are accorded the protection of the U.S. government to the degree it can. That, in a sensible polity, would be the baseline of ALL other U.S. citizens.
That the GQP disagrees simply is another aspect of their fundamental treason. They are no longer “Americans” in the sense of joining in comity with the rest of us. They consider only their faction – largely white, mostly “Christian”, entirely soaked in the wingnut ragegasm cult – to be citizens and due those protections.
And since I’ve dragged in Rome, here’s a recommendation from another Roman we might consider:
“GOP delenda est.”
Or words to that effect.
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susan said on December 9, 2022 at 2:51 pm
Re. Sinema
Oooof, mine eyes!
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Scout said on December 9, 2022 at 3:28 pm
This is only my take based on what I’ve read, but what’s up with Sinema is two fold:
#1 – She is universally disliked now by the entire Dem party here in AZ. She is MIA when local elections happen or even when POTUS is here for a big computer chip plant infrastructure visit, which happened just this week. She will be primaried in ’24, likely by Ruben Gallegos, and her internal polling has to be showing he is a lot more popular than she is.
#2 – Now that Warnock’s re-election has made both her and Joe Munchkin less powerful, the attention ho needs to get that spotlight back to maintain relevance and to keep those sweet sweet cash payoffs coming her way. She was worth $32.5k when she was elected in 2018 and is now worth $11m.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/sinema-received-nearly-1-million-from-wall-street-while-killing-tax-hike-on-investors
I have regretted a few votes in my life, and she is one of them.
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FDChief said on December 9, 2022 at 3:53 pm
If Sinema runs as a D she gets whipped. If she runs as an R, same-same.
If she runs as a I she splits the vote and a wingnut gets elected.
So as an I she screws the non-wingnuts and strokes her own ego, win-win for her.
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Scout said on December 9, 2022 at 4:08 pm
FDChief – Exactly. And I’ll bet you anything that she will be very well reimbursed for her treachery. She has shown her true colors.
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Dexter Friend said on December 10, 2022 at 12:33 am
I was infuriated when I heard Sinema let the air out of the Warnock win by doing this. Yes, she will run as an Independent and do the old Ross Perot thing, and get a scumbag reactionary elected who wears a big R.
Man, cannabis can really screw up a person’s life, legal in many places or not. 5 weeks ago my grandson’s girlfriend got an OVI (DUI) for having a roach in an armrest. She got stopped for a taillight burnout, the cop smelled the smoke, busted her, confiscated her license, then a few days later, busted her again for driving on an OVI suspension. She did 10 days and got beat up in jail as well. People make mistakes. Brittney Griner, who goes by “BJ” (why?…don’t know)got caught up in it via vape cartridges, set up or just careless, whatever, she got caught up in the web. We all know how basketball players love weed; I think the NBA finally caved and quit penalizing players for flunking drug tests showing cannabis use. It’s been going on forever, in colleges and pros alike. I suppose high school athletes get high too, but I know nothing about that.
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Jeff Borden said on December 10, 2022 at 9:51 am
For an “independent thinker,” Sinema sure rakes in the moolah from pharmaceutical companies and financial services corporations. Originally, my thinking was she’d serve a term doing nothing and head to K Street and the vast riches available to lobbyists. I underestimated her titanic ego, however. I agree her play now is to stay in the Senate and thwart Arizona Democrats by splitting the vote, which would propel someone cluck like Kari Lake or Mark Finches into the seat.
Scout, you voted for her. I gave her money. Sadly, no refunds.
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Mark P said on December 10, 2022 at 12:14 pm
Are you all sure Sinema will take Democratic votes? I’m in Georgia. Here I suspect she would take R votes, especially if the R’s nominated a loser like Herschel Walker. I mean, she’s presentable as a Republican, you know, compared to the regular run of Republicans.
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David C said on December 10, 2022 at 12:33 pm
Alexandra Petri’s has the perfect description of Krysten Sinema:
“The human version of an eviction notice written in glitter gel pen.”
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FDChief said on December 10, 2022 at 1:02 pm
Mark, re: $inema, my guess is that how she rolls will be to pull the thin sliver of “independent lean left” and whatever remains of AZ conservadems. That won’t be much, but the GQP will go all-in on their nutbar and then the little hoyden’s 5% will be enough to put them over the top.
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Deborah said on December 10, 2022 at 9:32 pm
Greetings from New Mexico, we touched down around 10am MST. Arising at 4:30am in Chicago to make the flight is exhausting.
This was the first time in my life that there was a medical emergency on board. People were dinging the call button like crazy in the back of the plane but no flight attendants seemed to notice until shouts for help were heard. I have no idea what happened, the attendants were hovering on the aisle floor for much of the flight but we were not diverted for emergency landing so I guess it wasn’t life threatening. One of the attendants came on the sound systems pleading for medical personnel to help. 2 men and a women immediately sprung from their seats to assist. We arrived at our destination at the appointed time and no one was carried out post haste that I could tell. I hope whoever it was had relief and resuscitation as needed. It was dramatic and scary.
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Dexter Friend said on December 11, 2022 at 2:19 am
A newscaster had it wrong. Griner is referred to a “BG”, of course, not “BJ”, which confused me.
The Army-Navy football game was slow-moving until 10 minutes left in the last quarter and all hell boke loose, and in double overtime the caissons rolled over the swabbies, 20-17. Fun stuff at the end.
For it’s hi-hi-hee
In the field artillery
As those caissons
Keep rolling along….
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ROGirl said on December 11, 2022 at 10:31 am
My brother lives in Toronto and my sister-in-law works at one of the library branches. We started using the Signal app a few months ago for messaging (I recommend it, it’s free and you can set up your own user group) and she posted a message the other day. Her library has a box for letters to Santa. A letter was dropped into it that was from a Ukranian boy whose family is now in Canada. SIL posted a copy of the letter, which is in Ukranian. A Ukranian colleague from another branch translated the letter. It says,” My name is Timur. I recently came to Canada from the Ukraine because a war started there. I want my grandmother to come here. Also I want a blaster with bullets and bombs. And please, if I could, I would also like white chocolate and bagels.” There was no address or identification with the letter. Both my niece and I encouraged SIL to try to find Timur to get him white chocolate and bagels. She said she would, and will keep us posted. She will start with records for children’s library cards and local agencies helping Ukranian refugees.
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David C said on December 11, 2022 at 5:11 pm
I thought I’d ride Twitter down to the very end to enjoy watching it collapse from the inside. Today, with Elmo Tweeting “Prosecute/Fauci”, that was the end of it. The crazy bastard has gone full Qanon. He must hold some sort of a security clearance to launch DoD satellites with SpaceX rockets. I think if I wrote and said half the shit he does, my very lowest level clearance would be pulled in an instant.
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Jeff Gill said on December 11, 2022 at 8:03 pm
Congrats, Dexter. The last hour with the final ten minutes & two overtimes was well worth waiting to watch. #GoNavy, but Army had a great win.
Question for the group, most of which are in or just above my age bracket — I am noticing the classic loss of muscle mass setting in since turning 60. Spending way too much time driving interstates and less walking isn’t helping, but I’m just wondering if there are ways to maintain general tone without joining either of the Crossfit boxes that have me bracketed. Those Crossfitters make the Navigators in my college dorm seem restrained and unevangelistic . . . they are passionate about their spiritual practice, I have to give them that. But I’m not up for a WOD or exerting until I vomit, I just don’t want to pipestem out more or faster than I have to. Ideas? I have two 15 pound freeweights and a history of sit-ups and push-ups that used to keep me relatively in shape, but don’t seem to balance out the weight of entropy for me anymore.
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David C said on December 11, 2022 at 9:07 pm
I’m in the same boat, Jeff. I’m thinking of hiring a personal trainer. One who specializes in geezer exercise would be preferable. I walk, row on a rowing machine, and have my bike on a trainer. I exercise for a half hour every other day but it doesn’t seem to be cutting it. Yesterday and today, I’ve been touching up the paint on our baseboards and I’m sore from head to toe. That didn’t used to happen. Maybe I could hang out a shingle that my house is an exercise studio and try to Tom Sawyer all the hard work that I used to do without pain.
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Deborah said on December 11, 2022 at 9:48 pm
The only thing I do is walk and it works for me. I like doing it and since we got rid of our car it’s about the only way to get errands done in Chicago. I find doing exercises in one place very boring, I have no motivation to get my workout that way. I need to figure out how to get some upper body exercise into my walks though, besides carrying heavy grocery bags. I have some hand (and ankle) weights I use from time to time on my walks but I need to remember to use those more often. Many years ago I went to the Y on my lunch hour and did aerobics, I’m a lousy dancer but we had a good instructor and it was fun, I did that for a couple of years until the instructor quit.
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Sherri said on December 12, 2022 at 1:02 am
Resistance training is the answer to the muscle mass loss. I don’t recommend CrossFit, because I don’t think it’s a generally safe way to learn to lift; too much about speed and pushing to the limit, which is not the way to build good technique.
Working with a personal trainer, at least for a while, is probably the best way to start, but if you don’t want to do that, there are lots of programs online. A friend of mine has used Couch to Barbell, and it seems pretty reasonable, and is pretty cheap: https://www.couchtobarbell.com/
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Dexter Friend said on December 12, 2022 at 2:21 am
Last Sunday Bob Weir was featured on CBS SMN. He still runs and exercises with machines and spinning a heavy thing around. I can do very little anymore but walk the dog three times a day for 20 minutes each time, using my canes of course. Good luck fellas with your regimens.
Mike White said there will be an S3 of ‘White Lotus’. Tonight S2 concluded with a remarkable end.
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Heather said on December 12, 2022 at 9:57 am
Jeff, I started doing strength training on weight machines a few years ago, which I alternate with swimming on my gym visits. I probably only do a half hour per visit but it does make a difference. Now if that would only show on the scale…this perimenopausal weight gain around the middle is no joke.
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Jeff Borden said on December 12, 2022 at 10:37 am
We joined a health center as my wife was coming out of a stroke protocol that required her to go through various physical tests. (She suffered no cognitive or physical after effects, but that’s the way Swedish Covenant Hospital rolls.) The health center offered to waive the initiation fee if we joined so we did.
First, we took a 6-week course called Fitness Fundamentals, which included everything from setting goals to proper diet to use of the machinery. The instructor showed us how to use eight machines he said would work all major muscle groups. And aside from coronavirus times, I’ve been going four or five times per week. Second, I recently hired a personal trainer for four sessions at a sale price and it was a wise move. He designed specific routines to help correct my problems with balance along with more resistance and cardio training. The personal touch is welcome.
I do not particularly enjoy exercise for its own sake, but over time, it’s clear the benefits are worth the effort. Yes, we pay a monthly fee, but most folks on Medicare have access to Silver Sneakers, which allows you to work out at participating gyms for free. The big thing about the gym versus home: When I cross the threshold, there’s no turning back. I will work out. Home exercises are too easy to put off and postpone. So, I’m a big advocate for having a place to go just for exercise.
Trust me. I am a sedentary man at heart. If I can do it, almost anyone can do it.
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Joe Kobiela said on December 12, 2022 at 12:22 pm
Will be 65 Thursday, plan on running 6.5 miles to celebrate. Run 5-7 miles 5 to 6 days a week usually out the door before 6am then it’s off to the Y for circuit training, lighter weights more reps for 30 minutes then a relaxing 20 minutes in a dry heat sauna and home by 9am, add in 30 minutes a night in the hot tub with the wife and I feel pretty good. You don’t need to do lot but try and do something ever day.
Pilot Joe
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Mark P said on December 12, 2022 at 12:53 pm
The body is like a car. They wear out over the years, and no matter how good the care is, things never work as well as they did when they were young, and they are more likely to break. If you’re lucky, you can kinda sorta do the same things you did as a kid, but if you’re not, you’ll start getting injuries, from small to large. But also like cars, you need to keep all the systems working. I tell my wife if that you do nothing all day, that’s all you will be able to do. The key is to exercise, but not to over-exercise. And remember, you won’t necessarily be able to do the same things that some others who are your age can do.
Joe can run 6 miles. If I had the knees I had 40 years ago, so could I. But my knees wore out a long time ago. I’ll never run again.
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LAMary said on December 12, 2022 at 1:11 pm
I live in a neighborhood full of very steep hills. Walking an hour here, sometimes with wrist weights, has worked for me. I do go into periods of not being motivated to do this and then I’m back to doing first a mile, then increasing it every couple of weeks as get back into the groove. If my left knee is giving me grief I use trekking poles. A tip: don’t try to run down a very steep hill. I wiped out badly once. I’ll be 70 in three weeks, which sounds older than dirt to me but I never thought I’d live to that age.
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Suzanne said on December 12, 2022 at 1:49 pm
I have found good workouts at HASfit (https://hasfit.com). They have an app for mobile devices as well. It’s a husband & wife team that always show modifications if needed.
Getting back to a decent fitness level after cancer treatments has been tough, but I keep at it; walking a mile or so, riding the stationary bike for 30 minutes, or a 30 minute HASfit workout. I do better when I work out at home. If I can roll out of bed, throw on a tee shirt and sweatpants, & climb on the stationary bike or walk before I get on with the day, I will do it. If I have to get dressed and go somewhere, I generally won’t.
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Icarus said on December 12, 2022 at 2:30 pm
Tell me about it Mark P. I used to run 2 or 3 marathons a year, plus smaller races, in between. Each year after my left knee scope my mileage was less and less.
This year I managed 26 miles total before my right knee also decided it needs a scope, which I cannot afford on our current insurance.
At least the shoulder problem that I report a few posts ago is gone…for now.
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David C said on December 12, 2022 at 3:03 pm
My PT told me I was never to run again unless I was being chased by a wild animal. So I don’t. Cycling is my thing. Even with that she’d prefer I rode a hybrid instead of a road bike. I have my limits. I do need to work with weights. I just don’t know what weight and reps to start.
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basset said on December 12, 2022 at 4:05 pm
Boxing therapy is helping me with Parkinson’s, hopping around hitting a heavy bag with a variety of prescribed punches in specific combinations. Probably would be more effective if I could remember all of em, still working on that.
Sedentary right this minute though, sitting in an elevated shed in the woods waiting for deer to come by.
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basset said on December 12, 2022 at 4:16 pm
(looking around every few seconds as I thumb this on my phone)
I think I met Superwoman last week. I occasionally work as a practice patient at a medical school, the task this time was to lie on a table and let medical students practice heart ultrasounds on me using a portable testing device.
The instructor was a senior student, almost through with her program. At one point she mentioned being in business school… turned out she is doing simultaneous medical and business degrees. Between groups of students she pointed the ultrasound probe at herself and told me that she’s pregnant too and likes to look in on the baby.
She’s going, she said, for the three M’s all at once… MD, MBA, and Mom. I was appropriately impressed.
And a deer did pass by just now, little male so I let him walk.
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Mark P said on December 12, 2022 at 4:35 pm
Icarus, when I was able to run, I couldn’t imagine not running. I specifically said, “I am not a jogger, I am a runner.” I had a good 15 K race one December, and within a few weeks a knee pain appeared that I couldn’t run through. I struggled for a while, jogging some, swimming, biking, trying to run occasionally, but eventually I had to stop trying to fool myself. It took a long time to accept that I was no longer a runner.
I used to dream of running painlessly up and down hills for mile after mile. I haven’t had that dream in a while.
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David C said on December 12, 2022 at 5:14 pm
I can’t think of anything more frightening than an MD with an MBA. We once had a dentist with an MBA husband/business manager. Every checkup they had a new toy we absolutely needed to let them use on us. They were one of the first to have an intraoral camera. It was “look at those cracks you can see on your teeth” when we get really, really close. So you need this treatment that costs thousands and insurance won’t pay for but if you don’t your teeth will explode. MBAs are all about separating as much money from us as possible.
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Julie Robinson said on December 12, 2022 at 5:50 pm
MBA’s are the spawn of the devil, apologies to any we have here but that’s been my experience.
Right now the only exercise I’m getting is eating goodies. We partied a lot this weekend and also baked cookies. It’s not gonna get any better until after the holidays are over.
basset, I didn’t know you had Parkinson’s and I’m sorry if you mentioned it before. You seem to be doing pretty well right now?
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Sherri said on December 12, 2022 at 6:08 pm
I hate to run, always have, don’t understand why anyone would. My favorite form of cardio is to lift weights faster, but if forced to do steady state cardio, I do the rowing machine. It’s the cardio I hate the least.
Cardio is helpful for your cardiovascular health, but won’t do much to counteract the loss of muscle mass as you age. It is possible to add muscle mass when you’re older, but you have to do strength training to do so. As far as what weight and reps to start, strength training generally happens in the 6-8 rep range, so pick a weight that will be possible but a little challenging for 3-4 sets of that rep range. As that weight becomes easy, add more weight. That’s the basic principle: progressive overload.
Getting stronger will help your joints feel better, too.
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basset said on December 12, 2022 at 6:27 pm
I haven’t mentioned it, Julie, thanks for asking. Diagnosed back in March… have slowed down some and am not as flexible, not too bad yet though.
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David C said on December 12, 2022 at 7:23 pm
Thanks Sherri. I’ve checked books on weight training for over 50 and they all are about the exercises themselves but very little about reps.
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Bitter Scribe said on December 12, 2022 at 7:59 pm
The nitwits who are going on about “we traded a supervillain for a basketball player” really make me roll my eyes. Whom did they think we were going to trade? Mary Poppins? Tinkerbell?
The reason we can’t make a “like for like” trade for someone like Griner is because this government is not (usually) in the business of imprisoning foreign visitors on ridiculously exaggerated if not totally bogus charges. Do they think we’re going to, say, frame Artemi Panerin and trade him for Griner? When all you lock up from the other side are actual criminals, that’s whom you have to trade.
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LindaG said on December 12, 2022 at 8:09 pm
I go to exercise class at the YMCA three times a week and have been going for 10 years or more. Plus swim a half mile after the class (usually). Walk three miles on days that I don’t go. An added benefit at the Y is the friendships with people I would not have known otherwise. (Same with golf, which is my summer activity.) A lot of people in the classes have had knee and hip replacements, but you would never know it. Seldom have aches or pains, no replacements, and people say they’re surprised that I’m 81! (Me too–don’t know how it happened.) I have a Medicare Advantage plan which covers the Y membership.
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Jeff Gill said on December 12, 2022 at 8:44 pm
Best to you Basset; sounds like you have a plan. Your exercise, that is. The deer plan sounds solid as well.
Thank you all. I’m learning a great deal. May have to buy a second set of hand weights for my “other” residence in Indy, and just commit to the reps. Just did annual physical and the doc is happy with all my numbers across the board . . . except the blood pressure, which is still up. (Gee, I wonder why.)
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alex said on December 12, 2022 at 9:24 pm
little male so I let him walk
You shoulda blown it away before it takes out somebody’s Altima.
Deer are bad around here this year and my vehicles are paid off and I want to keep them awhile.
Absolutely zilch exercise for me and I need to do something because this sedentary job is killing me. My endocrinologist says there’s a chance I could still get off insulin if I could just exercise. My problem is trying to even fit it in.
I was just diagnosed with carpal tunnel; my arms and hands hurt so bad I can hardly stand typing at work anymore. Trying to make a work comp claim of it but my employer is taking its sweet time filing my claim. In any case, it looks like I’ll get a bit of a respite from work and maybe can do some serious power walking and maybe even some job interviewing, but I’ll have to file it with my health plan and pay big co-pays if I want to git ‘er done anytime soon.
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Joe Kobiela said on December 12, 2022 at 10:05 pm
Pickle ball is a growing activity at the Y here in Auburn, they play 5 days a week and I counted 9 courts in use the other day. Some matches look like 4 people having a friendly while others seem to be pretty serious. Non the less it gets people out and moving.
Pilot Joe
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basset said on December 12, 2022 at 10:11 pm
Alex, if it’s been a doe I would have. In our part of Tennessee, you can “harvest,” as the saying goes, two males per season, and I’ve already done that, so I’m “tagged out” and can take no more. Females are a different story – three a day, every day, from the start of archery season in late September to the end of rifle season in early January. We have all we need in the freezer, so l’ve been giving what I shoot to a food bank program.
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Sherri said on December 12, 2022 at 11:03 pm
David, the reps are less important than the progressive overload; depending on the exercise, you might do more or less than the 6-8 range, but the basic idea is to keep challenging your muscles.
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Dexter Friend said on December 13, 2022 at 2:17 am
Being a bit of a railfan, train buff, I like to drive past our local Amtrak depot and drive a mile on the road beside the tracks and watch freight trains pass. Lately, if no cars are behind me, I drive the mile at 20MPH because about 1 in 3 trips deer run across my road pathway.
My old army buddy Greg in Connecticut used to run marathons; he ran Boston twice, the NYC Marathon several times, assorted others around the nation. He trained by running a course that included the path by that reservoir you’ll see in movies, in Central Park, all when he lived in Brooklyn, 40 years ago. So he convinced me to buy some good running shoes and starts running. I started slowly, then got to where I could run a comfortable 2 miles. Then I got the fukkitts. Cycling was my chosen thing. And I can’t even do that anymore.
Movie suggestion: Emily the Thief, starring Aubrey Plaza as a woman who , by financial necessity, gets drawn into credit card theft. Damn good acting, good plot.
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Little Bird said on December 13, 2022 at 8:15 am
I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but if you ever see me running, you should probably be running too.
With my bad hip the best I can do is walk; sometimes with a limp, sometimes without. PT was fine until the therapists started touching me. Massage does not work for me. I don’t like being touched. I tense up worse than before they started.
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basset said on December 13, 2022 at 8:45 am
Doesn’t someone on here have a son who did merch for this band?
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d0bfa3ec-7a16-11ed-8486-22782b7fe87b
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Scout said on December 13, 2022 at 4:41 pm
The only running I do is to get to the bar before happy hour ends. I look like Forrest Gump from behind because my feet kick out at a 45 degree angle. It’s not a comfortable gait, so it’s never been my thing. As an ex dancer, yoga and cardio dance jam are my speed for workouts. We have excellent instructors at the Esporta right by my house and Medicare pays the gym membership. We bought all the equipment to play pickleball at the end of summer but it took a while to find a place to learn how. Now that we have found one, we’ll start after the holidays.
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Joe Kobiela said on December 13, 2022 at 5:32 pm
All this working out must be working, just a few years ago if I bought $100 worth of groceries it was a struggle to get them from the car into the kitchen, since this administration has taken over it’s been super easy to get a $100 worth of groceries in the house.
Pilot Joe
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Mark P said on December 13, 2022 at 6:17 pm
Just today I was able to get out of the grocery store much lighter than when I went in.
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David C said on December 13, 2022 at 8:08 pm
Now that we have strengthening nailed down, does anyone know of a good stretching routine? My flexibility is probably even worse than my strength.
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LAMary said on December 13, 2022 at 8:20 pm
Biden is so powerful he has caused inflation in several other countries. England, Germany, the Netherlands… Biden singlehandedly caused inflation there on groceries and gas prices especially. How does he do it?
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Dexter said on December 13, 2022 at 9:57 pm
He’s Superman! November inflation just 7.1%.
Margery Taylor Green wanted Trump to invoke “Marshall” Law. And if she gets the chance her insurrectionists will be ARMED! And send in those marshals for “Marshall” Law. What the fuck do Georgia voters like about this creep?
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Deborah said on December 13, 2022 at 10:28 pm
When running started to be a thing and I became aware of it I tried it but it was most uncomfortable, not because of muscles but because of breathing. It made my throat horribly uncomfortable. Many years later someone told me that’s called runners asthma and is quite common. I let running go and didn’t pursue it further. Walking doesn’t bother me except that my endurance has decreased. I can’t walk 6 miles a day anymore but 3 or 4 miles is fine.
I saw John Eastman today at Target in Santa Fe. I couldn’t remember his name when I was trying to alert LB, I just quietly said, “there’s that Trump guy”. I wish I’d said loudly, “ there’s that stupid Trump guy”. He’s shorter than I thought he would be, but I never really gave him much thought.
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alex said on December 13, 2022 at 11:26 pm
My dad who’s 95 mostly talks about all of the friends he outlived. The smokers and drinkers all died in their 70s and 80s. The runners all died of heart attacks in their 40s and 50s while running.
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Sherri said on December 13, 2022 at 11:44 pm
I wish I had a good flexibility program, or rather, I wish I had a good flexibility program that I liked to do and would stick with!
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FDChief said on December 14, 2022 at 9:28 am
If there was any logic or order to the universe Margie Greene would find her place in Elmo’s harem and as Margie Ofmusk would be ranting her nonsense only to their crotchfruit. Sadly, we don’t live in that world and so we’re going to be punished by the massive overexposure she’ll get as the spokesidiot for the House GQP. Ugh.
In related news…will the implosion of the FTX Ponzi scheme be the nail for the crypto scam? I mean…you have to be pretty credulous or thoroughly baked in the woo not to see the scam for what it is now…but, people…
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jcburns said on December 14, 2022 at 10:18 am
Speaking up for the rest of my state, just want to remind youall that Marjorie Taylor Greene represents the upper, upper, northwest-most corner of Georgia. NOT Atlanta or anything too far south or east here.
OUR representative is Nikema Williams, in John Lewis’s former seat. She’s great. Unfortunately you don’t hear as much about her because she has no plans to overthrow the government.
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JodiP said on December 14, 2022 at 11:00 am
I have found at home yoga a nice way to stretch. I don’t think I’ll ever be super flexible, but it’s helped keep my aches and pains away. I do 10 minute sessions via YouTube with Kassandra. She has a 30 day challenge that got me through the pandemic. I’ve repeated it many times! Adriene is also a great one–her classes are longer. They are also helping me with improving balance–I searched for sessions focused on balance and I still have to hang onto a table or railing with some of them as I progress. They are free as well.
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Dexter said on December 14, 2022 at 11:01 am
With Pence out pushing his book, and Trump still the overwhelming favorite to secure the ‘24 nomination, Marjorie Taylor Greene may be Trump’s VP choice. This time she’ll rally her goons to bring street sweeper machine guns and burn the whole thing down; she has said this. Maybe we should dig up Sherman and direct him a little north of Atlanta for another burn campaign.
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David C said on December 14, 2022 at 11:13 am
There’s too much venal, billionaire, techbro money at the apex of the pyramid to easily kill crypto. As long as people with more money than sense keep giving them their 401(k)s it’ll go on. One good thing is that it’ll be easy to say too bad, so sad when it collapses so we won’t have to bail them out. Another is that like SBF when it collapses it’ll be easy to throw them in stripe city.
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Sherri said on December 14, 2022 at 11:23 am
I think crypto could collapse faster than you expect. The combination of prosecution (SBF isn’t the only one under DOJ investigation) and rising interest rates mean that money won’t be as easy to get, and Ponzi schemes rely on new money to survive.
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Deborah said on December 14, 2022 at 12:13 pm
Marge TG is such an attention seeking weirdo. I keep thinking she’s eventually going to stop getting attention and her schtick will die out, but the media keeps amplifying the craziness so we’re stuck with her.
Crypto has always seemed like a scam to me, but then so does the stock market. I don’t get it.
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FDChief said on December 14, 2022 at 1:17 pm
Stock has to have an actual physical thing – a company or suchlike – making stuff or doing stuff. There is actual physical value that can be assessed and stock prices can be pegged to that.
Currency is basically a belief that there’s a government that will provide the value of the currency and regulate and police the markets the currency is used in.
Crypto is, essentially, Monopoly “money”. It’s the 21st Century version of tulip mania, except with tulips you at least get a pretty flower.
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Mark P said on December 14, 2022 at 1:37 pm
I live in MTG’s district, so it’s my neighbors and possibly some of my relatives who voted for her. I wish I had some special insight, but I don’t. I can’t decide whether her behavior is a true reflection of her personality, or a role she plays for her ignorant, racist, dimwit constituents. I’m not sure which is worse, but either way she’s like a flamethrower in a dynamite factory.
I think she would love that characterization.
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Suzanne said on December 14, 2022 at 1:37 pm
I may have mentioned before here that I know a guy, a financial advisor, who took out a sizavle loan several years ago to buy crypto. He’s also a QAnon believer and drove to Florida at some point, from Indiana, to attend some Michael Flynn conference. I know several financial advisors who are on the fence about crypto which makes me wonder about their financial advising abilities.
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Deborah said on December 14, 2022 at 2:59 pm
I get that stocks are supposed to be based on actual products and services but the determination of their value seems to be hype (to me) rather than actual worthiness of investment. But what do I know. We don’t own stock personally but my husband oversees the stocks that his uncle’s foundation invests in, he and the other 2 trustees have asked the broker to only invest in socially responsible stocks which at first the brokers resisted but then realized that the returns didn’t change. They don’t invest in fossil fuels, cigarettes, guns and ammunition, companies that don’t have women execs etc. One of the trustees had parents who were alcoholics and has requested not to invest in alcohol products so they don’t. I don’t remember what all else they considered non-socially responsible
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JodiP said on December 14, 2022 at 3:41 pm
Our financial advisor made sure to tell us not to invest in crypto–we joked about it. I have an acquaintance who invested early and got out ages ago and made some nice $.
Deborah, if you don’t mind sharing if you don’t own stock, what have you invested in? Bonds?
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Deborah said on December 14, 2022 at 4:18 pm
My husband does the finances, the less I know the better, I just know it’s not stocks because he gripes about stocks being gambling to him. He’s got our finances documented for me if something happens to him, god forbid. I do know that we’ve invested in land in New Mexico. We bought our 100 acres over the course of 22 years for around $2k – 3k per acre and our neighbors say it’s worth $10k per now, so that seems like a pretty good investment, even if our neighbors are exaggerating somewhat. We didn’t really purchase it for investment but we’ve been very glad we did it.
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Julie Robinson said on December 14, 2022 at 4:19 pm
The state of FloriDUH is considering a law that the state can’t invest in any stock plans that are socially responsible. That’s not what they called it, but that’s what it is. They want to avoid any company that considers the long term social and environmental affects of their actions. They say it’s not up to the state to be making those kind of moral judgments. Incidentally it means the returns will be lower.
If you remember how the state is currently evaluating school libraries for anything the slightest bit gay, or how they are anti-CRT, or how they tried to ban abortion, you may think that road has already been well-traveled.
Cognitive dissonance is alive and well here.
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alex said on December 14, 2022 at 6:53 pm
Suzanne, if I didn’t know better I’d guess you were talking about Runestad. He was publishing all sorts of crypto-fascist cray-cray guest columns in the News-Sentinel right before it bit the big one.
My take is that he’s not really stupid but wants to attract customers who are, and builds affinity with them by talking Bilderberg and Rothschild and Soros out of one side of his ass and Jesus Jesus Jesus out the other. While his paid infomercials are playing to the heathens on Sunday mornings, he’s making the rounds at all the smoke-and-mirrors megaplexes where he’s regarded as some sort of rock star.
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