Archives for May 2012

Far for being a Luddite, I do love some of the implications being raised in the previous comment thread about the implications of science qua science.

After all, we already know that many studies are corrupted, and even relate in abstract in a way that the full text doesn’t really support (because so many only read abstracts). I’ll go out on a limb and contend that human animals have been engaging in science for thousands of years, and perhaps tens of thousands or more. My talk at AHS11 was: Self Experimentation; The Best Science. I meant it. And I still do, bias and confounding variables notwithstanding.

If you’re going to test how sitting on your ass and eating Hot Pockets and drinking Coke all day effects you, you’re probably going to just eat Hot Pockets and drink Coke. It’s only when you exercise your mind to undertake disciplined self experimentation do you try to deal with biases and variables. Because: you have a vested interest. Scientists, for all their fame, have no personal standing in the thing most valuable to you: your life and the lives of those you love. They just have a paycheck. Nope, no bias there. Nada.

My point is that bias will always exist, as will confounders—where you can’t tell what’s causing what, because too many variables are in play. But, I also presume you care about yourself; and such an audacious presumption, that. I’ll go out on another limb: you care more about yourself than do scientists care about you, earning paychecks you didn’t sign.

But yea, the work they do is valuable. It’s just not all valuable, and it certainly never, ever trumps your own science. I didn’t say experience. I said: your own science. If you observe the state of your environment, wonder what results you might get if you change something up, and you reasonablly take stock in that self experiment, you are the scientist as close to home as you will ever find…the one who care about you the most.

Take note: SHE blinded you. So, guys, now you know what all you’re up against. 🙂

Warning: This post is vulgarity free. Read at your own risk.

For sure, lots of folks are miffed at me in various ways (see comments). Understandable. See, I have this quirky thing about me where I tend to overlook errors, even lots of errors when, on balance—in my exclusive judgment—the balance sheet is in the black. We have this thing called a paleo, primal, evfit, caveman, ancestral movement where, dang it, and in spite of all of our mess ups, people seem to be getting better, improving in large numbers.

Who’s responsible for that, for adding value and promoting it in general? Art De Vany, Loren Cordain, Mark Sisson, Robb Wolf, Gary Taubes, jimmy moore, Tom Naughton…and a host of others. But you get the idea. These folks don’t all agree with each other on everything. In fact, it’s probably a safe bet that any one of them thinks all the others are wrong, even terribly wrong, on some things.

What do they do about that? They continue to produce values, continue to promote; they avoid being a squeaking pip that metastasizes into a cancer. The whole advancing deal, and the people being helped in large numbers are too important to risk turning away because when they heard that a certain guy or gal really had good info, and then when their search dropped them onto certain blogs, they found out how wrong and bad and a promoter of junk science the guy is—and in the context of that blogger being in or on the periphery of the general paleo community—they just went back to their Hot Pockets and liter of soda. Or, they were simply blinded by science.

Should errors be pointed out? Absolutely. But babies don’t need tossing out with bathwater. Science, in sociological terms, doesn’t come without its downsides and in general, science operates at both glacial pace and speed of light—to move things slowly, or change everything overnight. But mostly, people are concerned, this morning, with what’s going to work for them right now.

…So there’s a brief intro into promoting even more value producers who are helping people to get on the right track to fat loss and health every day, mixed results included. Fortunately, there’s so much value being published and promoted to help people right now, by so many and so frequently, I have neither time to read everything thoroughly, or to blog about them all individually (this is a good, non squeaking-pip thing). However, I have looked at each of these books, wandered here and there in them, and I can honestly recommend them as excellent resources for anyone, even children in one case.

Dr. John Briffa has been kind enough to email a few times about this post or that post I’ve done, and I’m always surprised and humbled to get noticed by him in that way.

I was even more surprised when a few months back, he emailed me with an advance PDF of his book and that this FTA blog got a mention in the resource section at the end. I loved what he wrote, too.

“Richard writes a good and irreverent blog…”

Later, in email he told me it was better to be irreverent than irrelevant, and I promised to do my best to hold up my end.

Escape the Diet Trap is a template for a the sort of meta-diet-book I’d like to see going forward. A lot of it is about unravelling what has proven not to work: low-fat, exercise, eat less, etc. Oh, and diet, diet, diet. And move more, more, more. Enough, already. Humans don’t work that way.

It’s sort of a low-carber’s intro to a more paleo or primal way of looking at things and includes even breaking through plateaus with fasting and exercise. This is near and dear for me. Lot’s of originality and synthesis in this book. has their already not been enough written? Isn’t it time to synthesize and show what may be wrong and what may be right?

Unfortunately, the book is still not available in the US via Amazon (a few used copies appear to be available). So, if you can get it via the UK Amazon site, go for it.

So what can I say more about the amazing Stacy and Matthew? I was so enamored with what these two accomplished with not only themselves, but their kids, I decided to do a 2-part interview series. You can see part 1 here, and part 2 here, including my silly commentary on the whole thing.

My delight was to me, palpable, as this was all going down. I don’t think I’ve ever been so enamored with demonstrated life change. The next time you hear it’s about the children, think of Matt & Stacy.

I didn’t really know at the time that Stacy and Matt had designs of their own to help people, parents and children alike. While I absolutely knew they weren’t Squeaking Pips by any means, I didn’t really know that they were keeping their awesome talents for being values to so many others a bit closely held.

But low and behold, I got a book in the mail one day and it’s simply insane as a way you might be able to outcompete the kids who come to school every day with bags of junk that your kids envy.

…I have it on very good authority from many sources that the way to do this thing is to send your kids to school with leftovers of the real food almost no kid has ever seen. Once your kids are envied for their varied, delectable lunches, you will have hit them at the right social spot, and they’ll be paleo zealots. Then, you’ll have another issue to deal with, but you’re starting from a better point.

Buy enough copies of Eat Like a Dinosaur to have your kids give it away a few to friends, creating even more resentment and envy.  That’s the Free the Animal way to go about things politely.

Dean Dwyer isn’t funny at all, which is his major problem. And, he seems to attract more women to his increasingly popular blog than men. What’s that all about?

To see just how much more funny I can be than Dean; he, in desperate hopes of getting you to conclude the contrary, did a 2-part video interview with me: part 1 and part 2. There was enough footage for 4 parts. I guess he gave up. Good move.

Another good move on his part was to get his butt busy writing a book from his unique perspective. One might call it a book on life & shift change epistemology, only he’s not funny, and women seem to love him. And Oprah’s off the air.

So where does he go? He continues to strive to be as funny and captivating as possible, only not so much as to ever eclipse me, which would be a tough nut to crack.

You can love Dean as I do, even though he’s way less funny. Toss him a bone anyway, and get a copy of Make Shift Happen. Do it for his harem. Buy another or two for your depressed women friends because Oprah’s off the air.

Solid, quick work, Dean.

As funny as Dean is not, way hot is Ashley (image Google Ashley Tudor). You ought to buy her book Sweet Potato Power on that premise alone, because way hot girls get certain privileges, ordained by evolution and base survival. And it so sucks for not-so-hot guys. That’s why some of us have to be funny, and why things can get so tough for Dean.

It was on the heals of one of my posts about starches that I got wind of Ashley’s book. “Someone just wrote a book about sweet potatoes?” “No way.” “Really?” “Sweet p-o-t-a-t-o-e-s?” “A whole book?”

Indeed. And I got two copies. One from the publisher and another directly from Ashley with TABS PASTED IN IT. Obviously, she thinks I’m more sciency than hot. …There was no phone number.

It’s easily one of the more smashing and original books in Paleoland. And, it’s not only about sweet potatoes. If you want something to really munch down on, try this out. I’ll be using it in an upcoming post on what I think is the most important thing about paleo, and it’s not anti-nutrients. It’s nutrients.

Dallas & Melissa Hartwig.

I have a confession to make. For various reasons having zero to do with anything they have ever done or contemplated, I was not a fan of them…Whole 9, Whole 30, or whatever. I didn’t promote them ever, never tried to reach out at AHS11.

My bad.

The truth is, I have no good excuse for why—and the best excuse is only a poor excuse anyway. I guess someone emailed me once, dissed then about how strict they were…I’m busy, and so I let a random email substitute for my own impression and judgment.

Then one day I decided to look into it and it’s fitting that they’re the last edition to this edition. They are superstars in their passion to create, build, learn, tweak, and, and, and, help people who so need it. Do they know the science? Yes. Does it matter. Sure, but in context. Must one know, understand and cross their chest with the science before they can be helped? I don’t think so, and I don’t think Dallas or Melissa think so either.

I’m a fan. The book is great, only having skimmed through parts of it. But here’s a very thorough review from someone I trust: Stefani Ruper, who will soon have a guest post up here, likely about women’s issues.

…Dean: you better put that one on your calendar.

While controversy rages in my Paleo circles owing to individual values, choices, assessments, allegiances, bias—and who you’d rather get drunk with—let’s take time away from the window breakers (ref: Bastiat) to highlight and celebrate someone who has never done anything but try to help average folks who don’t read PubMed or medical journals, and don’t really care much whether the science is all in, good or bad.

Their lives are at stake. They care mostly about themselves. And, because they need to.

So while some choose to pinch pimples amongst largely like minded folks, others choose to spend their limited time finding values and helpful information here and there, test it on themselves and—where it pans out, here and there—pass it on.

…I first blogged about my friend Steve Cooksey way back in 2009. More recently, I did what turned into 3 posts about his problems with the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition:

• Menace to Society: North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition (NCBDN)
• Clear Thinking, Drawing Distinctions and North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition vs Steve Cooksey, Diabetes Warrior
• Who’s The Worstest of Them All?

That’s the background for those who want to dig deep. Those, however, who insist the science has to be in before they can eat breakfast in the morning, may be disappointed: Steve is a straightforward, smart guy who really, honest to God, helps people. Does it include a little “bad science” here and there, or up-for-grabs science? Maybe. Could be.

America is messy. That was the point.

Y’see, Americans who really get the sprit of the ethic of the thing, kinda grok that everyone lies, everyone effs up, everyone behaves at times in a manner that would not be considered their best. America is about being willing to take the risk in dealing with whomever you want—even if you make a non-optimal choice.

Whatarewe? Idiots? Go ahead. Fool my stupid ass. Teach me a lesson! Let’s see how well I do next time. “Idiot” ought to be contextual in time. It usually is, and that’s America Underground. The story underneath the story.

…I contend that Steve, even if not perfect always, is a counter to average idiocy, as are many other individuals in myriad ways. However, who is to arbitrate that sort of complexity? Or, is it way too complex when freedom to speak is a value at stake…and then, shouldn’t everyone just be left to figure it out for themselves? I’m not a fan of the state—as everyone who who reads me knows—but the 1st amendment is Darwinian in terms of information. And I’m a fan of Darwin; and more importantly, what that means in the long view. And I think: you ought to be too. That’s my advice—while still legal to give it.

And so, yes, Steve is suing the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition in Federal Court, backed by a bunch of really bright Constitutional lawyers at the Institute for Justice, led by the well spoken Jeff Rowes. Thanks to Steve, Bob Ewing at The Primal Challenge (and Director of communications at IJ), and of course Jeff, for giving me the opportunity to have the scoop on this story a full day and a couple hours ahead of the official announcement and press conference.

Can the government throw you in jail for offering advice on the Internet about what food people should buy at the grocery store?

That is exactly the claim made by the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition. In December 2011, diabetic blogger Steve Cooksey started a Dear Abby-style advice column on his popular blog (www.diabetes-warrior.net) to answer reader questions. One month later, the State Board informed Steve that he could not give readers advice on diet, whether for free or for compensation, because doing so constituted the unlicensed, and thus criminal, practice of dietetics. The State Board also told Steve that his private emails and telephone calls with readers and friends were illegal, as was his paid life-coaching service. The State Board went through Steve’s writings with a red pen, indicating what he may and may not say without a government-issued license.

But the First Amendment does not allow the government to ban people from sharing ordinary advice about diet, or scrub the Internet—from blogs to Facebook to Twitter—of speech the government does not like. North Carolina can no more force Steve to become a licensed dietitian than it could require Dear Abby to become a licensed psychologist.

That is why on May 30, 2012, Steve Cooksey joined the Institute for Justice in filing a major free speech lawsuit against the State Board in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte Division. This lawsuit seeks to answer one of the most important unresolved questions in First Amendment law: When does the government’s power to license occupations trump free speech?

But I’ll get to the well spoken Jeff in a minute. In the meantime, this Englishman somehow makes a good narrator for all things caveman.

That’s pretty damn clever.

• Here’s the IJ page for the case launch.
• And the pre-litigation background info.
• The Press Release. I’ll post a link to the actual filed complaint when I get it.

Finally, I got Jeff Rowes on Skype a few days back to get a lead attorney take on this whole case, what it means in the large, and did a bit of devil’s advocacy. Take a look.

See also this IJ video on the explosion in occupational licensing in the US.

For Justice. For advancement. For celebrating and lauding values. For rationally accounting for error that everyone’s susceptible to. For dumping those who fake notoriety by being squeaking pips.

My identical comments at his identical postings here (awaiting moderation) and here. I have to draft another post for the morning, 9:30 am EST, and it has to publish precisely to military precision and when you see it, you’ll understand why. So, you’ll have to read Fuckface Keieger’s stupid post yourself, where he tries to impress you with his stock trading prowess by means of overwrought, non-sequitur and just plain stupid analogy. …Which is no surprise, as he can’t even beat himself out of a wet paper sac on the meaning of hypocrisy.

Of course, that moron cunt Evelyn at CarbSane couldn’t wait to suck his cock over it (comments).

James is also a master of Latin phrases for logical fallacies.

Laf. If so, it’s probably the first time she ever heard of them.

Alright, my comment. Tear it to shreds if you like.

Ha, and yet here I sit, such a fan of “Larry the Liquidator.”

But, as Larry explained in that speech at the stockholder’s meeting, it was time to cash out. This wasn’t breaking windows to “create value,” it was redeploying assets to more profitable uses. And if people care to, they can see just how many times I admonished Evelyn to “redeploy” her assets during our exchange, when she dropped 85 comments on my blog in the 2 or 3 Kruse posts I did.

…There’s nothing hypocritical about beating up on a bully, taking stuff from a thief, or killing a wanton murderer. Your thinking is laughably muddled here. A better case for hypocrisy and one tougher for me to defend, is that I often rail against various reporters, dietitians, and even researchers whom I often refer to as “grant whores.” There, I’m going against CW and institutionalized dogma that has clearly failed; as people keep getting fatter, more diabetic, more unhealthy. The individuals are simply convenient cross-hair targets of opportunity. I don’t keep chasing and chasing those individuals.

The problem with the pump & dump analogy is that there are people who signed up for the risks and they’re on both sides of the trades. You don’t call it right on all your trades, either, James; and sometimes, it was because you got effed for whatever reason by those luckier, smarter, or with better information than you. I traded options full time for about 3 years—credit spreads on the SPX—so I do have a bit of familiarity with the terminology of the square analogy you’re trying to force into a round situation. I was totally agnostic as to market direction. At any one time, I’d have as many short spreads as long—they were simply placed at different times, in different contexts.

I’m not arguing against scientific critique. I went after Evelyn, again, because she seems to me to just want to entirely discredit Lustig rather than politely point out whatever errors she thinks he’s making while acknowledging a lot of the good he has done like raise awareness—which to me comes down to: drinking a lot of sugar in juices, sodas and energy drinks that don’t satiate is very likely to have you eating several hundred calories a day more than you need. Here’s an example of a critique I love:

http://evolvinghealthscience.b…

Note:

“Part of the issue is about balancing the argument. I think we can learn a lot from someone like Robert Lustig because he has done the knowledge translation piece so well. Whether he’s done it intentionally or not, he has brought a lot of attention to his issues. On the other hand, we’ve done — at least the people with a more balanced view — a very poor job at trying to communicate that balanced view. Yes, there may be some signals [that fructose has an adverse effect] or, no, there aren’t, or it may be conditional on energy. With all the nuances, we’ve done a pretty bad job at communicating it as opposed to the simple message of “Fructose at any level is poison.” We’re trying to say it depends on the dose, it depends on the energy, and that’s a hard message to communicate. We’ve been dwelling on harm. We’ve been saying “Well, it doesn’t support harm except where there is excess energy.””

But then there’s all this stuff asserting that he even thinks whole fruit is bad when I am quite certain I heard him say on either or both of the jimmy moore podcasts he did that fruit is good (because it has fiber, which satiates).

So, to return to the very poorly thought out trading analogy, you might consider that the stock that just got pumped to $120 isn’t worth that, and soon people are going to figure that out, so go short. But you probably don’t think it’s worth zero (and trying to drive it to zero would likely involve securities fraud, not to mention plain unethical) and probably no less than $80.

So, in reality, the analogy you’re offering actually supports my contention as concerns Evelyn. Tell me she’s not trying to drive the stock of Taubes, Naughton, Moore, and now Lustig to zero. If you short enough shares and a stock does go effectively to zero then well, you get to go live the rest of your days on a tropical island with luscious brown skinned girls serving you drinks with fruit and umbrellas in them. And your conscience is clear.

A stock only goes to zero when it _should_ go to zero and I assume you know why.

I saw you cross posted this and so I’ll cross post this comment as well. I saw mention on the other post about Colpo and whole grains. First off, I’m on good terms with Anthony. Secondly, I told him Martin is cool, but he kinda made fun of me for that. Perhaps in time. On the whole grains issue, this is another area where my thinking is evolving. I used to buy into the whole anti-nutrient thing. Could be something there, but I think it pales in comparison to nutrient density. Grains are plain bankrupt nutritionally, which is why they’re often “fortified.” Simply put, grains (and sugar) crowd out high quality nutrition.

Compare equal caloric portions of bread to either beef liver or salmon:

https://freetheanimal.com/2011/…

One day I’m going to actually calculate it out nutrient by nutrient. I think it’s safe to say that liver is thousands of % more nutritious and salmon hundreds of %.

Even fruit:

https://freetheanimal.com/2011/…

Takes 5 pounds of mixed fruit to equal the nutrition of 4 ounces of liver. So, this is really my focus with paleo: nutritional density.

To wrap up an egregiously long comment, Evelyn and others like her, who have largely built whatever attention they have on the backs of people like Taubes, Naughton, Moore, Lustig, still haven’t figured out that “bad science” is not really what it’s all about if you care about people dropping the weight and improving health. Both good and bad science got us into this mess and both good and bad science will get us out. What’s important is personality, drive, sensation, conniving, influence, and a whole list of human attributes people pay attention to, in the end.

If you were real scientists, you’d understand that as the meta-science. Yes: good and bad results can be obtained by good and bad science. In the end, the best salesman wins. Thousands of people, including myself, can credit Taubes, et all, with being that one thing that got us on the right track.

And as for Lustig, isn’t it so awful that perhaps thousands of people might be questioning the idea of having their kid down a quart or more of fruit juice per day because it’s cheap and “healthy,” all based on “bad science.”

Alright Jamie. Ball’s in your court, fuckhead.

Here’s what the thing looks like.

Torture Chamber

Not really. It’s so surprisingly easy to do. and Tore Gustafsson from Sweden says he treats people in their 80s. My initial reaction? Drugs are overrated. I still like my cold water dips of course. This is simply another tool in the toolbox. I’m about 30 minutes out of the chamber and continue to have just an aura of well being that seems to even be increasing. The effect is supposed to last for quite some time, ramping up metabolism, with a calorie burn in the ends of between 600-800 kcal per session.

They are purported to be cumulative, in that it trains your body to run at a higher metabolic rate 24/7, with regular sessions. 2-3 per week for a few weeks, then backing off to once per 7-10 days according to Tore. He’s a way cool guy, by the way.

I’m not going to divulge Tore’s prices, because I don’t want to muck stuff up for any other small businessman out there, or for Tore. Negotiate your own deal.

So, he shot a video of part of the deal.

Alright, find one in your local area if you can. This one is Viking Performance in Los gatos, CA.

…Alright. I have to get ready. My brother arranged for a limo from his place in Sunnyvale up to San Fran, to visit two of world renowned chef Michael Mina’s places; first RN74. Then we’ll go to Michael Mina—namesake restaurant—where I’m told both Michael Mina and Jeremy Tyler of the Golden State Warriors will be joining us for dinner.

 Tomorrow by this time, I’ll have gone into the chamber of cold death.

Just talked to the guy at Viking CryoTherapy in Los Gatos, CA. He has a facility within about 5 minutes from me. A commenter hooked me up. We talked a while about my background with things, and he agreed to hook me up with the max.

-300 degrees fahrenheit, somewhere between 2.5 and 3 minutes in the gauntlet. Liquid nitrogen fueled. I’m taking a camera and hope to report back.

…Later, if I survive.

Remember: No woo. No asteroids; just rational science, individual experimentation and results. Even if an asteroid did hit thousands of years ago and shaped human evolution, you’re still the fuck on you’re own right now…today! Get over it, get fucking used to it, and most particularly, quit listening to fucking gurus.

Don’t you just love corn dogs?

While “femmes importantes” are now setting their sites on the “sins” of the great Robert Lustig…because, hey, that’s what happens when you have no value to add to anyone, pretending instead you offer value by tearing down value…I’m off on a different track, and will continue to do so. It was fun engaging the cunt while it lasted…. Onward.

Right across the street and on the corner opposite the main gate of the Yokosuska Navy Base—on the peninsula quite a bit south of Tokyo—is a shop that does about the best finely ground black peppery chicken or shrimp fried rice I’ve ever had—that they prepare on the skillet in front of you and its fun to watch how the egg gets integrated; and in fact, though I don’t know the recipe, lots of finely ground black pepper has always been essential for good fried rice, for me.

…But when you wander back, drunk & tired…at 1am or later, maybe you want a corn dog instead…and they were set up for that, for the totality of the 5 years I had there, in attendance in the latter 80s. They had an window to the street, kinda like convenience stores that’re open late now—only for different reasons.

My only problem was that whatever dough recipe they used, it was inferior to what I knew as a kid…that with a solid, unmistakeable outer crunch and thin bread between…and then the mustard. If you put catsup on your corn dog, you’re going to Hell. Sorry. I can’t save you. You’re lost, irredeemably. So, yea, that crunch thing and thin breading was replaced by a decidedly more doughy feeling and soft outer layer, necessitating the prerequisite of being somewhat drunk first. …Inebriation doesn’t only make ugly & fat girls pretty.

I have solved that little dilemma, however, in a Paleoish way. Crunch is paramount.

First, 3 and only 3 ingredients, and I don’t give a fuck about your kitchen sink concoctions

You can grill or otherwise cook your dog, but for ease, I have found that 25 seconds in the nuking machine gets the right balance of warn out of the fridge, little to no fat being wasted by pouring out on the plate.

You must prepare the tortilla properly. Crunch. Use the gas stove

If you don’t have a gas stove, you can do it with en electric directly on the burner. Just turn it almost constantly and keep the setting at medium low. Takes more time and attention, but doable. If you do your tortilla in some sort of oil, microwave it, or whatever fucking stupid thing you might have in mind, well, you ought to got straight to hell, along with the catsup-corndog abusers. I have no use for you in my increasingly small universe.

A dolup of mustard on the side, just in case

Then, you eat it, of course.

The tortilla cracks

If the tortilla doesn’t crack, it’s not crunchy enough and you’re lost. Just lost. Comment in, and I’ll try my best to save your soul from eternal damnation, in spite of the fact that’s what you really deserve.

…But I’m a sucker for redemption.

If you dind’t have fried egg sandwiches as a kid, I’m sorry to say that you will probably never, ever be up to the task of understanding all the Secrets of the Universe. It’s simply a prerequisite.

…White bread, mayo on both slices spread liberally so as to ooze, an egg fried in butter—yolk broken and flipped—a dash of salt and lots of finely ground black pepper, left to cool down to warm, a slice of cheese is optional and totally appropriate now and then…and then finished off with enough catsup to ooze out along with the mayo.

Back in the Navy, and being always in WestPac and thereabouts for my first 5 years, we ended up in Pusan, Korea often enough, for R&R. Probably about 15 visits for me. What do I remember almost the most? Fried egg sandwiches. $1 each (mid 80s). They used hamburger buns, but there was nothing like coming out of the bar scene at 1 or 2 am, and smelling that cart.

But what to do now? I only eat bread as an infrequent indulgence. Well, some time back Bea and I incorporated quality corn tortillas. I may have blogged about it but I forget. Neither of us has any issue with them and the thing is, now we feel pretty free to go out to mexican because we so like the corn, I don’t think either of us has even been tempted to have a flour tortilla in a long while.

But I get quality ones, whether from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. Often, it’s just organic, sprouted corn, filtered water and lime juice. That’s it.

So, here’s a Fried Egg “Sandwich” Taco.

Fried in butter, break the yolks and flip

Let eggs cool to warm as you toast the tortillas directly over the gas flame

Mayo on the tortilla, egg, black pepper and catsup

Tacos!

Alright, so no, I don’t bother to make my own mayo or catsup, anymore. Tradeoff: it sucks. I use Trader Joe’s. Their mayo is “organic” canola, whatever the fuck that means. What it means to me is that a single jar lasts me about 4-6 months. Same with their organic catsup with no HFCS or a 2″ long list of unpronounceable ingredients. Your mileage may vary. If it serves your time and interests to make your own, go for it.

But, consider that in making your own to exacting Paleoish standards—I’m sure—might make you worse off, because you might end up eating a whole lot more mayo and catsup (overindulgence because it’s doctrinal) than we do, or that you ought to…

This isn’t an everyday thing. I just discovered this, and when I do that, It’s overindulgence for a week, getting better after two, and a now and then thing after three.

Go with it.

Now just wait. Soon, I might show you the most absolutely delicious corn dogs you’ve ever tasted. And they beat, hands down, a deep fried one. If you imagine, you can probable get where I’m going.

I’m not sure this book review qualifies, but here it is. Food & Nutrition, purportedly, the “Magazine of the World’s Largest Organization of Food and Nutrition Professionals.” Evidently, they haven’t gotten the memo that they’re not only total fucking failures over 40 years or so, but have likely morphed into the Magazine of the World’s Largest Organization of Pimps & Whores for Advertiser Dollars.“

Reviewed by Melissa Joy Dobbins, MS, RD, LDN, CDE

Claims: The author shares his tips for eating, fasting and exercising “as wild humans did for millennia,” including how to embrace your primal cravings for animal fats and fiber-rich plant sources, stop listening to the “experts” and start tuning into the body’s natural signals. This book claims to help readers lose fat, gain muscle and unleash the energy of the animal inside them. He touts paleo power in preventing allergies, diabetes and cancer, and states that it may be possible to cure or at least slow your cancer by eating a low-carb, high-fat diet.

Synopsis of the Diet Plan: Nikoley recommends eating “real food” such as meat, organ meats, poultry, fish and shellfish, vegetables (limit potatoes), some fruits (berries and melons primarily), nuts, fats (lard, tallow, butter, ghee, coconut oil, red palm oil, olive oil), whole fat dairy and heavy cream (preferring “raw” milk if available). Foods to avoid include grain-based products, processed foods, certain fruits, potatoes and vegetable/grain/seed oils such as canola, sunflower, safflower and corn. Nikoley is a proponent of “intermittent fasting,” and recommends exercising for one hour per week, but avoiding cardio because it is “catabolic and makes you hungry.”

Nutritional Pros and Cons: Nikoley admits to having no health credentials or training and that his research consists of what he finds on the Internet. He criticizes mainstream science and health “experts,” stating that “not only is mainstream dietary advice wrong, it is maiming and killing those who follow it.”

Bottom Line: This diet would be very difficult for most people to follow, let alone naturally desire. Based more on science fiction than science fact, Nikoley’s recommendations are misguided and reckless, especially his advice to drink raw milk, which is strictly against FDA and CDC recommendations.

Besides the 22 out of 25, 5-star reviews for my Book on Amazon, a commenter on the Facebook Page of Ancestrialize Me pretty much summed it up—and I’ll just respectfully, and with a solemn nod in his general direction, leave it to Paul Lussier, as my complete response; and thank you, Paul.

To whom it may concern,

On Page 30 of this month’s Food & Nutrition magazine you reviewed Richard Nikoley’s book, “Free the Animal”. In your review, you claimed, “This diet would be very difficult for most people to follow, let alone naturally desire. Based more on science fiction than science fact, nikoley’s recommendations are misguided and reckless…”

Richard’s diet is based on eating real, natural, and unprocessed food. Items occurring in a natural, unprocessed state, such as eggs, meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables, fruits and nuts. These are items which our ancestors have eaten for millions of years, and, by the evidence that we exist today, they were fairly successful eating such foods.

Your statement above implies that you do not believe it is possible to thrive by eating real, natural, and unprocessed food, and therefore, by implication, we would be better to consume a diet consisting of unnatural, processed, and man-made food products. Given that we have approximately 2.5 million years of evidence backing up Richard’s claims, what evidence does Food & Nutrition have to back up its implied claims to the alternative?

Given that a vegetarian diet, which is also a whole, natural, and unprocessed foods diet, are we to now believe that being a vegetarian or vegan is also unhealthy, misguieded, and reckless ? Why would Richard’s diet be considered “misguided and reckless” or “difficult to follow, let alone naturally desire”, yet a vegetarian or vegan diet would be considered healthy and simple to adopt? There’s really only one difference, and that would be Richard’s inclusion of animal-based protiens and fats, to which, biologically, the human body is very naturally and evolutionarily adapted.

Are you really saying that most people would find it difficult to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast, or consume a salad with some tuna, or last night’s left-overs for lunch, or have steak, chicken, pot-roast, or roast ham for dinner with a side of carrots, sweet potato, or eggplant? And can you please explain how eating this way is either misguided or reckless? Because I’m at a loss to understand these statements in your review. Most people I know eat as I’ve described on a fairly regular basis, though, not necessarily at every meal.

Thank you for time, I look forward your response, either privately, or in print.

Sincerely,
Paul Lussier

But I have a quibble with Melissa Joy Dobbins [lottsa letters, intended to get you to take her on her authority over yours], though. I prefer “dangerous” to “reckless.” Reckless? Please.

Thick skin all around. And I love that, qua base ethic.

Changing gears…

Enough of pussy people, whose great achievement in life is to shout from the rooftops…about how they’ve been “offended”—claiming victimhood as a badge of horror…uh, honor. Steve Hughes ridicules every single one of you types, so I’ll just summon him, via the God of YouTube (pretty much better than any god I was ever indoctrinated with, under fear of eternal torture—and YouTube is tantamount to omniscience to boot).

Now, where might I have seen anything about that, lately? Aww, it’s at the address Evie Dearest resides. She doesn’t like me calling her Evie. But you have to read comments to get that, and see my response. Don’t worry about it. She’ll keep the decent traffic spike if she can, and I’m a sucker for redemption anyway. Read her stuff if you like it.

Apparently, she has some weird crawly thing up her important ass for how I didn’t exactly come clean about Kruse in precisely the exact right way, and giving him a pass for inconsistencies along the way, over that month I supported him generally…it’s a super important deal. Apparently, I should have been doing regular colonoscopies, reporting results to you—my trustworthy readers—who can’t help but hang on my every word. Either that, or actually get through her entire post—which I simply can’t. It’s just fucking boring to me, and it’s about me….Perhaps you can; perhaps it matters to you, and if so, that’s fine.

I’ll just sit around and lament the fact that when you come clean on something…that’s when you open yourself up the worst. I get it. I have no illusions about “important” people like Evie Dearest.

…Interestingly, the comments don’t really go in total to how I somehow botched my mea culpa. What’s far more important is that Evie Dearest seems to have a good number of “important” women commenters; they like to hang out there and get their massages—about how it’s all the fault of all these guys touting paleo and LC, but they’re wrong this way and that way, and by implication, their average important “importantness” is all those guys’ fault.

But again, you’d have to scan through the current 55 comments to get at least a notion of the gist at which I’m getting. I could be wrong. As always, you get to judge for yourself, including me.

But in closing, I have to go all wooo on you. That’s the commenter—and I have no idea her background but it’s implied she’s a medical professional—who tagged me as I report in the title to the post.

Like a true sniveling coward, Nikoley jumps on the Kruse-bashing wagon when his ego no longer sustains electrical jump start thrills by being associated with his (heavily disgraced) name. Kruse has reached such epic levels of public ridicule and unpopularity Nikoley is sustaining narcissistic injury just by being associated with him. This public lambasting of his supposed ex”friend” demonstrates the appalling lack of integrity of Nikoley. The more he attempts to redeem himself, the more he shows what a truly abhorrent individual he is. It’s like watching someone struggle in quicksand. Now we know Nikoley is not only a coward, a misogynist, someone with a profound abusive streak, and a liar (“cunt is a term of endearment!”) but we also know he has no personal integrity and freely snitches/rats on his buddies for personal gains, a turncoat.

Wow, all you readers better beware. Itsthewooo has the woo. And the shit. Don’t you know how to psychoanalyze/deconstruct all in one breath? And she didn’t even have to spend thousands on a private eye to get all dirt on me she could; because, I just give it to everyone openly on my blog.

Who’s the real fool, here? The stupid sucker?

As an aside, not only was her blog recommended to me in a comment thread a while ago, but I remember her from way back in Stephan’s comments at Whole Health Source (I see she’s taken to dissing him too, but not for the same reasons, of course). More.

The respectable thing would be to, like Rob Wolf, and pretty much everyone else, would be to slowly distance yourself from this (crazy nut) person. Make it known you do not agree with their endorsements/statements/claims in a tactful way. No one expects one to be chained to a mentally ill pathological liar for life, but the professional/stable/mature thing would be to slowly, quietly, non-dramatically part ways with them.

Yea, that’s what she would do, because she’s a cunt-head wanker. I’m not. When I’m a fuckhead, I’m a fuckhead, and the only way to quit being a fuckhead is to stop being a fuckhead—NOW. My advice: when you see you’re being a fuckhead, stop being a fuckhead, immediately.

In a follow-on comment—and I did offer to have her send me a bill for the free psychoanalysis.

NPD / antisocial traits seem disturbingly common amongst “paleos” as this silly religious cult emphasizes grandiosity, egocentricity, and has a marked emphasis on disregarding modern society. This is appealing to a narcissistic psychopath, as appealing as the atkins diet is to someone who likes hamburgers and bacon.

Nikoley himself shows classic signs of being a low level narcissist / sociopathic abuser, which may be the very thing that lead him to worship other successful narcissistic / sociopathic icons like Jack Kruse or the character in the Baldwin movie he shamelessly admitted to idolizing.

Oh, sorry, I shamefully idolized Baldwin in that clip… but only for those who took it the one way. For those who took it the other, that, that, was indeed shameless.

Alright, to now finally wrap this up, a closing video for narcissist abusers, or even self-abusers alike, everywhere. Lords of Acid, The Most Wonderful Girl, from the 1993 flick, Sliver, with …OMG, the sexiest Sharon Stone at her bestest.

Eat your hearts out, Evie Dearest and Co. …You femmes importantes. Turn it up.

Lafing.

I was pretty pleased with the discussion thread in comments last week when I first posted about this: Man Alive! A Survival Manual For the Human Mind. Because of that, I thought it would be a reasonable thing to do over the next 12 weeks is to put it up chapter by chapter, every Saturday morning, and hash it out over the weekend for those interested. It could be fun and educational. Minds might even be changed, the possibility for which is really the premise of discussion—or should be—in the first place. So here we go. Most chapters are pretty short.

~~~

From: Man Alive! A survival manual for the human mind.

by Greg Swann

Chapter 1. You’re in this all alone.

What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!

That speech is from Hamlet, of course. Shakespeare, dead four-hundred years, loved your mind much more than does almost anyone alive today. If you read contemporary authors – theologians or philosophers or academics or artists or journalists – they will insist that your reason is either impotent or incompetent, your faculties inept, your simplest movements clumsy and chaotic, your actions and apprehension diabolical, your every attribute a manifestation either of an ugly corruption or of meaningless chance, your very existence an insult to all of existence. You will have to dig through a lot of garbage to find someone who will come right out and say that the universe would be better if the human mind did not exist, but this is the philosophy undergirding modern claims made about humanity.

The culture at large, all over the world, is at war with the human mind – and you don’t know it.

The world you’ve always known is collapsing around you – or has it already collapsed? – and you don’t know why.

…

Read More

Before I get started, just a quick plug about my book. I’m not sure the exact sales so far, but it’s somewhere around 5,000, and a good portion of that is to new folks, which was the whole point for me. My promotion for “buy a copy and give away 5 for free” is still running. Could end any time I want, but I don’t want yet. Instead, for this weekend, I’ve lowered the price from 4 bucks to 3, for the PDF version. Details for those interested. You can still give away 5 for free.

That was pretty tame, eh? It’s even less duress than NPR fund drives.

I had a number of avenues to consider for moving forward in terms of keeping the good, but moving forward; keeping it real, always real. Gurus need not apply. I’m no better at this than anyone who gives it an honest shot. My experiences and observations, no more profound than yours. My authority, only my own. So, no, as I explain in the first few seconds of my video from me to you whilst in 57F water: there’s no aura of any ancient pathway; and as I close, there’s no Factor of anything. It’s seven minutes or so, if you can stand the cold.

As I mentioned, I spoke on the phone with Ray Cronise for a long time yesterday afternoon. Here’s his TedMed talk.

He rang me up to encourage me to keep blogging about nutritional density, as I’d sent him some links. But, he didn’t want to go too much into it. Why? Because he wanted to not introduce bias in me, and he wanted me to keep challenging him as he continues his research into not only CT, but diet as well.

Oh, noes! It’s like Honest Science(TM)!

Be well. We’ll talk more about the human mind and social structures tomorrow. That post is already mapped out.

Now I know

I was admonished over and over. For months. By “People.” Many…”People.” Now, mind you: everyone lies. Really. But I’ve always been the sort to dismiss so-called “white lies,” and hyperbole. Moreover, I sit as my own judge in determining for myself whether any particular lie rises to my own standard of outrage—because everyone should have their own standard of outrage.

Let’s take progress pics, mine included: tan, suck in the gut a bit—not too much—suitable clothing, decent photography, etc.

Like this?

Dr. Jack Kruse, Nov. 2009?

No, not even close, and anyone with just a small bit of sense would know immediately it’s not only not Dr. Kruse, but most likely never will be. But can you prove it? Indeed, you can. So here goes.

I got emailed a link last evening, right here (if you don’t click & look, you’ll be a bit lost going forward). It’s a screen clip of a photo posted at 7:02pm on May 9, 2012, to IPMG (International Paleo Movement Group) by Jack Kruse from his personal FB profile (not the one representing his blog/website). Yes, as my earlier post attests and is totally genuine, that group is awesome. But this is how I found out about it…not getting out, much. So, please don’t let this post dissuade you in any way from enjoying the huge value that group is creating day by day.

Like I said, I knew immediately that was not Jack’s back. And I could not imagine how someone could be so brash as to try to pass it off as such. Given events recently, the spoof/parody Twitter account, and still extending (expending?) every benefit of doubt I could until my eyes bled out, I noted that Jack’s blog/website account is “Dr. Jack Kruse” and this was from “Jack Kruse,” and with a different profile pic. Was he being spoofed, again? Well, it didn’t take long to discover he has a personal FB as well, and he has a lot of posts on it tagged public, so you know it’s him (plus, the who’s who of friends he has).

I then joined IPMG, and scrolled for a long time (there are just tons and tons of posts there, every day) to get a single week back to assure myself that yes, Jack did, in fact, post this:

Screen Shot 2012 05 16 at 8 26 47 AM

…And you know what? I have debated with myself, talked to “People” on the phone, etc. …Over the last six hours, deciding first to give it a rest and deliberate, and so on. …And then I look at those comments to that post.

And then I look at those comments to that post

And then, I look at those comments to that fucking post….

Every time I do, I feel more and more ashamed for extending the benefit of the doubt, getting in huge arguments with “People”…even telling some “People” to fuck off, including one of the nearest, dearest and best “People” friends I’ve ever had.

Go look through the hard ass work some of these people are doing at IPMG and posting it, including women in their panties. Their own hard work; and then, imagine that someone just has to 1-up everybody; and even to the point where, because he’s a doc & surgeon—and ought righteously to be above reproach—they innocently submit to him.

Evil? You decide.

Jack Kruse, in the end, asked more than I could ever give and I was willing to give a fuck of a lot. I was willing to put up with his over the top hyperbole as just an ethic: people put up with my over the top blogging in terms of being whatever it is people think of me. I’m paying back.

I’ve had numerous exchanges with him by text and phone. I always thought he was worth the effort.

But I’m done.

Blogging is being yourself. If you’re playing a role, you have a website. I’ve been being myself and blogging about it—with all the stinky included, since 2003—and it ‘aint worth Jack, or anyone else. BTW, giving Jack leeway wasn’t unprecedented, even amongst the so-called “Paleo elite.” Robb Wolf did, but he became impatient too. I doubt Robb would regret that I mention that he and I had a long email exchange over that, and the real gist is, it’s a bummer. Jack is really dynamic and hype be dammed. He could help a lot, but this level of lying is just not something I can abide.

Yes, I did the reverse image search on the photo as well, as my final step of due diligence even though I knew precisely what I would find. If you have any further doubts, click here, courtesy of more good “People.”

OK, so now I invite every single People or just people to tell me “I told you so.” I guess I deserve it. The one thing is, I no longer have to take anyone’s word for it and that’s an important thing for me. Yea, I suppose I could have dug, so it’s not a huge point.

Onward.

Addendum (5/17/2012): Having looked at at all the comments so far and the other action here and there and around, seeing pretty much what I expected, I figured it was perhaps time to add a bit to the post about the first couple of times Jack made me doubt his sincerity. I brushed those two things off as “strikes 1 & 2,” but it’s not as though, as some of Jack’s defenders attest, that I just went off half-cocked here.

First of all, I talked to Jack by phone—basically a mini-interview—in advance of my first post about him and the controversy involving Leptin Reset and Cold Thermogenesis. I thought both protocols had merit and wanted to spread the word. I’d already seen his Tedx Talk and how he described having had surgery without general anesthesia, went home, had his wife and daughter pack him in ice, etc., etc. As I asked him about all of this over the phone he added that it was that night, January 9th, that I had spoken with him on the phone.

Ever been in a conversation with someone and out of politeness, don’t call them on an inconsistency? Perhaps he’s mistaken. I didn’t actually know which specific evening I’d spoken with him and it’s 3 months later. So, maybe he’s mistaken about the day. Give it a pass.

Now in retrospect, perhaps it was very important because, you see, for three months I had in mind that when I called, Jack was doing a major CT self experiment. I forget how many hours he said he was going to do, but:

1. He said not one word about having surgery.
2. He said not one word about injecting himself with bacteria.

When I asked why he was doing this, he said, “chronic back pain.” He also said that his family had no idea he was doing this, that he had taken time off work to do it, had someone watching over him, and that he was eating during the experiment. So, the Tedx talk 3 months later is the first time I hear about the bacteria, surgery, and that his family was involved in the ice packing. Still, I didn’t not connect that with my previous conversation with him because there was essentially nothing about the stories that were the same. So when he claimed our conversation was that same night I should probably have not given it a pass, but I did.

Next, during that same phone conversation in advance of my first post, he told me about his “Factor X” and I believe my response was along the lines of ‘huh, interesting.’ Later, in his podcast interview Abel James, that somehow gets translated into “Richard was totally blown away!” I think he even said it twice. Perhaps it would have been nitpick of me to bring it up then, but not so much now.

Anyway, Jack initially had quite a lot of defenders in this comment thread coming in to complain, then explain how Jack’s Facebook account got hacked, etc. They appear to have been silenced, as it has been pointed out that while Jack says he was not on FB at all on May 9th (and was “hacked”), there’s 10 other posts from him on his personal FB page that people have screen clips of (in case they’ve been deleted to cover tracks), and there’s posts on his fan page as well, as well as interaction with commenters. In short, there’s a whole lot of reasons this simply was not a hack, and essentially no reasons—without trying to explain how the planets orbit the earth—that it was.

And there’s a whole lot more.

Finally, as I’ve said to others in comments, I understand that everyone arrives at their own conclusions in their own time, and based on differing amounts of information. And that’s totally fine. I’m just saying that what I’ve found and have posted about is now plenty for me.

Thanks to all the helpful input I got from the 1st try at this, I put together a new one. Short & sweet at 1:15.

So sometime this week my publisher will be kicking off a special promotion for the book, for which sales are still remarkably going very well—in spite of the odd silly review on amazon.

A couple of weeks ago I had a fucking brilliant idea. That was after I was thinking about commenters who add so much value around here. I wondered to myself, how can I repay them, beyond just engaging as much in comments as time allows? Once I asked the question the answer seemed too obvious: give the best ones center stage now and then.

Sean Abbott at Prague Stepchild was an easy first on the list. Lots of commenters come and go, but Sean somehow finds a way to add value to virtually every post I do, and he’s been doing it for a long time. He’s a veritable co-blogger in that sense. So here we go. The first in a long series, perhaps every couple of weeks. I already have a couple of others in mind.

~~~

As an American who’s going on 17 years living as an expat in Prague, Czech Republic, I suppose one of my biggest self-identifying characteristics is being an expat. One has to be careful self-identifying with things like this, or thinking ‘this is what makes me a unique snowflake’. I remember when having long hair was an important part of my identity. And that’s frankly pathetic. Still, having spent more of my adult life abroad than in my native land has come to shape a lot of who I am today.

When I first moved to Europe I had a bad case of white liberal American guilt. I only spoke two languages (and my Spanish, even at it’s best was never exactly stellar), Bill Clinton was getting impeached for getting a blowjob, OJ Simpson had just been aquitted of a crime everyone knew he was guilty of, etc.

Living abroad cured me of all that. Nowadays, with a lot more perspective, I’m not ashamed to identify myself as an American, or to realize that America has a healthy percentage of the smartest humans on the planet.

Yes, I’m now going to start making some broad sweeping generalizations about Americans and Europeans.

America has more stupid people per capita than Europe. They also have more intelligent, risk-takers and I’d say more interesting, wacky people in general. In other words, American has a flatter bell curve with more people at both ends of the spectrum (or spectrums) than Europe, probably a result of hundreds of years of European emigration. Lots of miscreants emigrated because they were losers, but lots of them didn’t fit in because they had higher intelligence, along with the drive to take the risk of looking for greener pastures.

Europeans have it tougher in general, so they tend to be leaner and meaner than Americans. This is mostly my experience living here in Prague, but I think it generalizes to many European countries. Things are frickin’ expensive here, thanks to taxes, regulations and tariffs, purchasing power, even with a decent salary, is much less than in America. Buying things in general is much more painful, with less availability, ruder shopkeepers, more crowded stores, etc. As a consequence Europeans are much more careful with their money. People have effectively less money, but they spend it in much better ways. They buy nicer stuff for their usually smaller flats, they take nicer vacations, etc. Americans work harder than Europeans, or at least a lot more hours, but they tend to spend more of their spare time and money buying giant TV sets and watching them. Sort of like the days when buying a CD or even an LP (explained here for you youngins) was a big deal. One was very careful what to buy, and then it was listened to over and over.
Europeans are more provincial than Americans. Sure, there is the cliché of the suave European who speaks seven languages, dresses impeccably, has a flat in Paris, Milan and London, etc. And those people certainly exist. But the average European only speaks one language, travels abroad only on group tours where they stay in their little bubble speaking their own language, and receives their news and entertainment from state-owned TV station(s).

Most Europeans think they are familiar with Americans, they see our movies, TV shows, they see American tourists, they think they know Americans. And this false familiarity breeds provincial contempt, because most of these people have never lived in America, spent much time there beyond a week in New York, or even interacted with an American at all beyond the internet, yet they feel qualified to piss and moan about how we are all ignorant cowboys.

vI also think there’s a much stronger undercurrent of independent thought in America. Yes, the United States has it’s cathedrals of political correctness, but this disease has a much stronger foothold in Britain and Scandanavia in my experience. Americans tend to be, or at least have more opportunity to be, less conformist than the average European.

The thing is, none of these sweeping generalizations really matter, because while people are different all over the world, they are also mostly the same. Of course, there’s only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people’s cultures and the Dutch. I’m not saying let’s all hold hands and sing Kumbaya, because I’m really quite the misanthrope. What I’m saying is that it’s easy to talk in platitudes, but actually living in other countries helps one to understand, on a visceral level, that other cultures can be different, and how they are different. I’d say it is similar to people who’ve never spent any time around animals (kitties and puppies don’t count), yet have so much ‘respect’ for them that they demand the world renounce meat. The reality is that farm animals are dirty, stupid and even dangerous. Still, the ranchers I’ve known who raise livestock to be slaughtered love and respect their animals, much more than the vegan animal rights activist spouting empty platitudes like ‘meat is murder”.

Finally, here is my opinion on travel and language:

Travel Tips

My idea of traveling is to go to one place and soak up the atmosphere. Find a nice pub or cafe to become a regular at, learn or improve your grasp of the local tongue, explore the less-beaten pathways, the local haunts, etc.

I’ve had to wrangle with the wife about this one. She used to be into the idea of stuffing in as many sights as possible but I’ve managed to win her around, more or less.

I’ve seen the Eiffel tower, but I don’t remember much about it. However, I do have fond memories of playing a pick-up basketball game under the shadow of the Eiffel tower (there are, or used to be courts at the far end of the park). Me, two Aussies who were staying in the same hostel, and a French guy versus four Italians. Ironically, I was probably the worst of the bunch (although I’m almost 6’4″ so that makes up for a lot). It was a hell of a game and we barely won—fist pump.

When I’m on my death bed, I’ll probably remember things like that multinational pickup basketball game more than how many famous buildings or works of art I’ve seen. 

Language

Languages are great. But they also require a huge amount of time and energy, and they are only useful if you are going to actually use them. Okay, languages do have some intrinsic value, they give one insight into one’s own language and teach grammar (I never really learned English grammar until I studied Spanish). But if you already speak English, the fact is you can get by with this in most places. Spending four years studying French is great, but if you only use it for two weeks in your life on a dream vacation to France, was it really worth the effort?

There are plenty of skills that might pay off much better depending on one’s life choices, learning an instrument, learning a sport, etc.

I don’t have a problem with learning a language per se, but as someone whose American Language Guilt has been assuaged by knowing three of them, having encountered many Europeans who could barely speak their own language, and being someone for whom languages do not come naturally, I think they should be put in perspective.

That being said, knowing a language is going to help open doors. An American friend of mine majored in chemistry and Russian in college, and now he’s living in Kaliningrad, married to a Russian woman with two kids. Had he not had that language under his belt his life would’ve definitely taken a different and probably less interesting path.

Another advantage of knowing a language is language groups. Master any Slavic language and it is much easier to learn or even get by in any of their cousins. Ditto for the romance languages and other language groups (so stay away from Hungarian!).

If you do want to learn a language quickly, technology has made things much easier nowadays. I think Gabriel Wyner has some excellent advice along these lines.

…Okay, that’s it. I want to thank Richard for allowing me this opportunity to guest post without saying fuck even once.

[I took care of that in the intro – Ed]

I read this free 75-page ebook in the space of a few hours Sunday before last and knew immediately that I wanted to feature it here. It’s one of the most interesting and unique liberty, individualist, egoist, anti-autharitorian (of all kinds) books I’ve ever read—and I’ve read a lot of them.

It’s not only about thinking for yourself, but for yourself. …As in, something the author, Greg Swann, terms Self Adoration, which is the name of his blog that serves as companion to the book.

I think you’ll find the writing style clever and unique. Greg has a really delightful method of describing complex philosophical ideas and logical fallacies—and Latin too—in a single phrase, so as to never bog the reader down in minutiae, unbridled deconstruction, or just filling space either to impress you, or to come in where you need to be in the economies of scale for a traditional book.

I’m quickly coming to see and agree with Seth Godin that the future of publishing is in short ebooks, and that if you can’t get what needs to be said in under 100 pages, then maybe you ought to write two books—or maybe none at all. Look at it this way: The Communist Manifesto was only about 80 pages, as I recall, and look what influence it had on the entire planet. So here’s the introduction from the book and why you want to consider reading this and spreading it around.

Save the world from home – in your spare time!

That headline is my favorite advertising joke, a send-up of all those hokey old matchbook covers. I don’t know if anyone still advertises on matchbook covers. I don’t even know if anyone still makes matchbooks. Presumably, by now, smokers can light their cigarettes with the fire of indignation in other peoples’ eyes.

But I have always believed that ordinary people should be able to save the world from going to hell on a hand-truck. Our problem is not the tyrant-of-the-moment. The only real problem humanity has ever had is thoughtlessness – the mindless acquiescence to the absurd demands of demagogues.

That’s the subject of this little book: The high cost of thoughtlessness – and how to stop paying it. It weighs in at around 75 pages. I’m nobody’s matchbook copywriter, and I would have made it even shorter if I could have. But it covers everything I know about the nature of human life on Earth – what we’ve gotten wrong, until now, and how we can do better going forward.

Why did I bother? Because the world we grew up in is crashing down around our ears. Nothing has collapsed yet, and there is no blood in the streets – so far. But as the economists say, “If something can’t go on forever, it won’t.” My bet is that you have been watching the news and wondering what you will do, if things get ugly.

Doesn’t that seem like a fate worth avoiding? And yet: What can one person do? My answer: Read – and propagate – these ideas. The book itself is offered at no cost – and it always will be. Even so, the price I ask is very high: You have to pay attention.

If you find that you like this book, I encourage you to share it freely, far and wide, in any form, with anyone you choose. Print it, photo-copy it, email it – shout it from the rooftops if you like. You can read it at SelfAdoration.com (back-up), or you can download an easy-to-share PDF version (back-up). If you post to public forums or you have your own web site or weblog, download the propagation kit (back-up).

Why should you bother? Because if anything is going to save civilization from tyranny, it will be ordinary people like us. And there are at least 2.5 billion of us on the internet. Think what a big difference some new ideas could make in that many human lives.

How do you save the world from home in your spare time? One mind at a time…

~~~

So as you may suspect, professional philosophers, journalists, ivory tower professors and the elite in general are pretty much going to hate this book. Actually, they’ll just ignore it. The only way they won’t be able to ignore it is if everyday regular people don’t let them, and for that it needs to spread. But of course, you’re in this all alone (which happens to be the title of chapter 1) and for that fact alone, you get to judge, you get to decide.

I got on Skype the other day to chat with Greg about himself and the book, for those interested in digging deeper.

Greg also does a lot of videos on his own site, and he uses a guitar as a prop which I find quite endearing. I liked this one in particular.

Mommy, he called me a name!

Long before we all became a bunch of stupid cunts feigning “hurt,” that was the idiomatic wisdom. I’m sure I must’ve heard it first from my mom; and I remember it, misogynist that I am. But I’ll get to that, later.

Because I’m not puerile, I have no problem shooting a link to anyone I’m highlighting, like Evelyn Kocur over at Carb Sane-Asylum.

But Angry Dick Nickoley is on it! Yes, he’s all over this case. […]

Oooh … Dick, I’m not afraid of you. You do realize using the c-word makes you appear to be a very very small ummm … man. Right? Eh, probably not. I forgot. Nine years, 3000 posts and a sh!tload more comments than I can ever hope for here and all that. Yeah, Jack went to the right hack.

But I dunno, perhaps she was only reluctant to link to me because she’s been all over the comments and has generally been subjected to her own beating, as I am in hers. She’s being beaten up (that’s a metaphor, BTW—as misogynist can quickly become batterer) for her general approach in attempting to appear more important than Gary Taubes, jimmy moore, Jack Kruse, et al, put together, by simply putting in the minimal effort necessary to find faults in them. She “creates” by means of destruction. So I don’t expect her to have ever read Bastiat on the essential underlying matter. Or, more poignantly, to have in any way connected those dots to applications to her own methods. Hey, I guess someone needs to fill the role of being the place where all the haters and “hurt” people go. And the indignant. And the self-righteous.

We live in a climate now where the incentive is to certainly not be honest. You can even use words in your apology like “dick-stepping,” “stupid,” “fuck up,” or whatever, and it really doesn’t matter whether you just self immolate or provide any context behind why you as a human over years of observation may have been led to certain action that at a point you realized was wrong, and why.

Now, apologies get deconstructed. I suppose there’s good reason for that because politicians do it all the time and, of course, they don’t usually mean it. Those get deconstructed too…that’s what we do, now, so the calculus becomes: keep lying; defend, deny. And that’s the totally safest course, because you’ll have enough fans to defend you. You’ve been sleeping in a cave if you don’t know what I mean.

Onward.

Yesterday’s post was about someone fallaciously reporting a potential bio-terrorist attack on a cruise ship ready to sail, on the part of Neurosurgeon Jack Kruse, MD, who got booted off, and where 300 people had signed up and paid in part to see him speak—in spite of having been cleared by authorities. He had his room and luggage ransacked by ship personnel, local authorities, the FBI, Homeland Security and the Coast Guard before they told him what he was suspected of.

Then he gets to walk the gang plank, luggage in hand, in view of all, and nobody knows what’s up. It wasn’t until about a day later that the 300 attendees to Jimmy Moore’s 2012 low-carb Cruise knew the story.

“We hate Jack Kruse.” Ergo, he deserved it, got what was coming to him.

“Serves him right.”

“Richard, you’re a DICK for suggesting that Jack go civil and sue whoever ends up being behind it.”

…And on and on. Jacks a “bad guy,” so anything goes and besides, it’s all so funny. But not only that. I guess the implications of my original post weren’t clear, because this was the very first comment.

[email protected] // May 8, 2012 at 12:27 (Edit)

Re: “They use the word all the time and it’s tantamount to a term of endearment.”

But let’s be honest … that’s not how you use it, is it?

What’s important is that I used the W.O.R.D. “cunt” in a derogatory and “hurtful” way. In comments at Evelyn’s blog at the afore-linked URL, this same commenter says that I admit to using it because it causes “hurt” (gets panties in a bunch). So, it’s “misogynist.” Yep, just wait until they find all the mutilated, decaying bodies of prostitutes stacked up in my basement.

Here’s an idea. I love to see how some women love to feign being “hurt” by words. It’s Oprah Unleashed, I guess. Amazing how someone could earn like $70 million a year over 25 years teaching women to be victims, to fall down and play “hurt.”

…If I call a guy a “cocksucker,” is that misandry, homophobic? How about ask my friends, including all the gay men and lesbian women I count as friends? No, you’ll never find it. It’s a smoke screen because the Oprah culture has taught women to feel hurt, be poor helpless babies, school children running to mommy because someone called you a name.

By the Grace of God, some women have brains and self-confidence, aren’t afraid of words on blogs, like the grounded Kate Ground (she doesn’t like the word, but she’s what you call an “adult.”)

Kate Ground // May 8, 2012 at 20:20 (Edit)

The very First comment on something pretty important was about your use of “cunt”. Are we all in grade school here? Come on…

And more actual Cunt-Sanity.

Juliebgood (TwinkleDammit) // May 9, 2012 at 07:38 (Edit)

As a female, I would just like to say that I see no reason to be “offended as a woman” and have hurt feelings over c*nt or tw*t (at work, must filter swear words). In fact, I use them casually, all the time, when someone’s being a c*nt. […]

I just don’t see the big deal, at all. From what I’ve observed, they’re words that sensitive people “choose* to be offended over, and I find that sensitivity over these terms in particular is almost (not always) the provenance of middle-aged and older women. The younger set really doesn’t give a darn.

Uh, oh, is there a word yet to describe people who hate the older set? 🙂

Alright, let’s wrap it up. You’ll probably not want to spend 20 minutes, unless you love Frank Zappa, are aware of his intelligence and gusto, or just want to see him make fools of conservatives and liberals alike, in a calm and collected manner. In the Crossfire (CNN), 1986. There were more adults then, especially amongst women.

“We’re talking about words.”

And the great Larry David, in a two and a half minute bit from Curb Your Enthusiasm always has his hand on the pulse.

And finally, there’s this: Cunt: A Declaration of Independence.

An ancient title of respect for women, the word “cunt” long ago veered off this noble path. Inga Muscio traces the road from honor to expletive, giving women the motivation and tools to claim “cunt” as a positive and powerful force in their lives. In this fully revised edition, she explores, with candidness and humor, such traditional feminist issues as birth control, sexuality, jealousy between women, and prostitution with a fresh attitude for a new generation of women. Sending out a call for every woman to be the Cuntlovin’ Ruler of Her Sexual Universe, Muscio stands convention on its head by embracing all things cunt-related. This edition is fully revised with updated resources, a new foreword from sexual pioneer Betty Dodson, and a new afterword by the author. “Bright, sharp, empowering, long-lasting, useful, sexy….”—San Francisco Chronicle “… Cunt provides fertile ground for psychological growth.”—San Francisco Bay Guardian “Cunt does for feminism what smoothies did for high-fiber diets—it reinvents the oft-indigestible into something sweet and delicious.”—Bust Magazine

But, y’know, don’t ket it get in the way of your hurt license, or my misogyny. FWIW, someone in comments suggested I be called Cunt Master. I was kinda partial to Angry Dick, but you know, that’s very tempting.

This is the post I was planning on drafting for last Monday when disaster struck, and I simply decided immediately to put everything off for a week that I was doing and had planned.

Cold Thermogenesis

I’ll start at the end, since it’s the newest thing. A month or so ago I first began to blog about Cold Thermogenesis (CT), followed it up with another, and then just shy of a month ago, renewed my own experiments with my own 150-gallon backyard tub.

There’s also been a few others I’m aware of who’ve weighed in on the issue:

• Keith Norris @ Theory to Practice: Cold Thermogenesis…or Core Cooling?
• Dave Asprey @ Bulletproof Exec: Cold Thermogenesis in Tibet, and the Dangers of Biohacking Made Real
• Michael Smith @ Critical MAS: Cold Weather Training
• Kevin Cottrell @ Jack Kruse’s Optimized Life (guest post): Cold Thermogenesis 11: Paleo Fx to Practice (be sure to check out the impressive test results reported by Cottrell in massively lowering his CRP, a marker for systemic inflammation, by 90% in a month)

And so, from April 9th until now, I’ve been in the tub most days (perhaps 5-6 days I haven’t been in and 3 of those were because of being out of town). I’ve tried not to make a big deal about it in terms of water temperature or time. At first, I set two 5-gallon buckets of water in the box freezer and then used those to bring the temp down.

Ice

Big Cocktail

Thing was, I’d been away for nearly a week (used an unheated pool at one place for 2 days, temp ~60ish) and so had no idea how long it took to freeze 10 gallons of water solid. I used both of them upon my return to get that water down to around 50. I refilled the buckets and more than a day later they were still not solid, which I didn’t know until I put them in the tub and when the ice slid out, discovered that the wall thickness of the ice was only about a half inch (though the water pocket inside was very cold).

So, besides just the pain of having to refill those buckets and wait, it’s not very feasible anyway—and I’m just not the sort of person who’s ever going to go buy bagged ice to dump in the water. Time to rethink.

First step was to get the tub out of the sun, so I drained it and moved it under the patio cover. This worked well. I can refresh to some extent each time with the garden hose that’s running about 54 deg right now, or drain entirely and refill, which is good for the lawn anyway. Refreshing it each day is also nice for skimming off the dust floating on the top, as it just runs over the side.

We had some hot weather and it got up to around 60 or more, but with cooler days recently, it was down to 52 yesterday. Today it got to 90 outside, but this evening the tub had only reached 60. So, to sum it up, I’m going to go with whatever the tap temperature is, year round. I figure it’ll be under 50 for all of the winter months solid, and at height of summer, somewhere 65-70 at most and maybe even less on a refill.

This is plenty good enough. Having it outside for the evenings when the temperature dips helps a lot. It also must be noted that I get all the way in, right up to my mouth; but if I was in a bathtub, no way to do that. And I’m not the slightest bit interested in packing myself in bags of ice. So, again, what’s better? Colder, but not fully submerged; or a bit warmer, variable temperature but all the way in? I think you know where I see the tradeoffs shaking out.

In terms of time, it’s been as little as 15 minutes and as long as 35 with the average probably falling in the 20-25 minute range. I was not aiming for any specific results, yet, but rather to simply get used to doing it nearly every day and making it a habit that I’d enjoy, and that has certainly been the case. Today, for instance, I was over at our swim club and did a 30 minute light, leisurely swim in water that’s likely somewhere in the 70-75 range. And just a few minutes ago, after dinner, I did 15 minutes in my own tub.

…I have obtained one very specific result. I’m a bit hypothyroid and have been for years, with elevated TSH, but low normal for both T3 and T4. The only symptom I suffer that I’m aware of is cold hands and feet sometimes. Well, and this was pretty amazing, but from my very first session almost a month ago, 26 minutes at 52 degrees, I have not experienced cold hands or feet a single time. Not once. In fact, I sometimes feel as though I’m radiating heat off the palms of my hands and soles of my feet. Weird.

Other results include phenomenal sleep and a general sense of having a far wider comfort zone for whatever the ambient temperature is. I’m comfortable when it’s 60 deg in the house when I get up, and comfortable now, when it’s 77 inside the house. And I didn’t even know it got up to 90 outside today until I saw the temp while in my car.

The strangest, most counter-intuitive thing I’ve experienced, however, is this: 60 degree water is colder than 50 degree water. Of course, what I mean by that is it feels colder and I feel colder faster, shiver sooner. At 50 degrees, I have no problem staying in for 30 minutes, feel warm for the first 10 minutes, and don’t begin feeling really cold until about the 20-minute mark. At 60 degrees I begin feeling really cold in the 10-15 minute range and at 20 minutes I’m really itching to get out. My speculation is that 50, and perhaps even down to 40 (which I used to do at the gym), is a “sweet spot” where your body mounts a bigger defensive response and thus doesn’t feel as cold as quickly as 60. The takeaway for those experimenting with this—dipping their toe in the water as it were—is if you don’t get the water down to 50, you may feel as though you can’t adapt, and give up.

Moderate Carb paleo

Calories absolutely count. I can’t believe I ever fell for the Low Carb Myth (LCM) that they don’t. Don’t get me wrong, though. I don’t see anything wrong with being LC if that’s what you like. In fact, and get this: cold adaptation via CT may just turn out to be the grand unifying theory for how to make LC work for you without having some of the problems people report (such as cold hands and feet). A paleo LC diet is very satiating—since it replaces empty calories with nutrient dense fat and protein. CT isn’t going to do any magic, but it is going to make you burn through a few more hundred calories per day, and if you can manage to not feed your face more, you just may break through that LC plateau so many hit at about 20% body fat (more for women).

But as with CT above, I want things as simple and natural as possible. I don’t want to count, I don’t want to do nutrient breakdowns. Rather, I want to eat a varried diet and not worry about eating starch or not eating starch. I want to eat paleo and eat what I want, when I want. And throw in dense nutrition often, like tonight’s meal: liver and sautéed kale (with onions, bacon, garlic and sprinkled with vinegar).

Beef Liver

Sautéed Kale

That’s the most nutrient dense animal food meets the most nutrient dense vegetable food.

Resistance Training and Kettlebells

While I’ve done some form of resistance training all along, and even the Leangains protocol, I’d never done much but some kettlebell swings and presses at the gym I used to go to. A week or so after getting my tub in the backyard, I got these:

Kettlebell Friends

There’s a 26, 35 and a 44 pound bell and I really love them. Mostly, I’ve just been having fun with them in a totally random fashion almost daily. Could be for a couple of minutes, or 5 or 10. Little to no structure. One of my favorites is simply standing straight up, feet together, hands at sides, and with the 44 pounder, simply begin swinging it around your body, switching hands at the front and the back. Do it clockwise 10 or 20 times, then the reverse. First time I did it, my biceps were more sore than 2 sets of curls at 95 pounds. And, my traps and delts got a workout too.

I’ll probably be getting one in the 70 pound range soon.

Intermittent Fasting

I’ve mostly been doing the Leangains fasting method for quite a while now, most days, and mostly just because I usually don’t feel like eating before 11 or noon anyway, and am usually done eating by 8 pm. Martin Berkhan & I never did get to that post on fasting, but of course, I have tons of posts on intermittent fasting going way back, including doing my workouts in a fasted state.

Beginning a few hours ago I began the first full, no-shit 24-hour fast I’ve done in some time.

Putting It All Together

The last month has been a lot of experimenting, particularly with the CT and the Kettlebells. So now it’s time to put all the foregoing theory into integrated practice. I’ve got around 20, maybe 25 pounds of fat to lose, still, so this will be a 10-week program I’m embarking on, with the aim of dropping about 2 pounds per week. Here’s how it’s envisioned now, but I may adjust things as I go:

• Moderate Carb paleo: Low to moderate carb on rest days; high protein, moderate-to-high carb and low fat on post workout days. No counting, just a general sense. The two post fast/workout/CT meals per week will be huge lean protein and huge starch/fruit.
• Resistance Training & Kettlebells: One structured 30-minute fasted workout per week with the bells; and a structured, Leangains style 30-40 minute fasted workout per week heavy (dead lifts, leg presses, standing presses, weighted chins, seated cable rows…maybe some light bench presses). I may add some intervals or sprints once per week.
• Intermittent Fasting: Two 24-30 hour water, unsweetened iced-tea and black coffee-only fasts. These generally go from noon to dinner the next day or, if a shorter fast, late afternoon to dinner the next day. In the late afternoon before breaking the fast, I’ll get in the workout and a session in the cold water.
• Cold Thermogenesis: Every day for at least 30 minutes, post-workout and fasted on my two fasting days. On days when I swim at the club, I may shorten the CT sessions to 15 minutes minimum.

So there it is. Ten weeks beginning today and who knows, maybe pretty much forever beginning today, with fasting being scaled back to once per week.