One day, during a working lunch, an associate joked about how nice it would be to order martinis with our lunch. “Eek gads woman,” I said. “They’re absolutely horrid!” She seemed utterly perplexed by my position on the matter. “My dear, martinis are among the best cocktails one can consume. Pray tell what type of martinis have you experienced?” I relayed my failed experiment and she took pity upon me. “Poor man, you’ve been hoodwinked. A gin martini, especially as wet as the one you are describing, is an insult to the word martini.” She gave me a recipe for a vodka martini and I went home excited to try again.

The improvement over my original experiment was dramatic; however I continued to tweak her recipe to suit my liking. Soon, my martinis would become know around town (actually just my small circle of friends) for their quality, drinkability, and general awesomeness. Although I no longer drink them, or any alcohol for that matter, it seems a shame to not allow those who still indulge to experience one. So for you, Faithful Readers, I present The Joetini.

Material Gathering Phase

Obtain the following items:

1. Martini shaker
2. Martini glasses
3. Shot glass
4. Top shelf vodka (I recommend Grey Goose)
5. Vermouth
6. Lemons
7. A sharp knife
8. A cutting board
9. An eye dropper

Preparatory Phase

Place the following items in the freezer:

1. Martini shaker
2. Martini glasses
3. Vodka

The vermouth and lemons should be refrigerated.

Mixing Phase

1. Cut a fresh lemon in half. Place one half to the side of your cutting board.
2. Using the second half of the lemon carefully cut the rind away from the lemon, enough to make two 2” strips.
3. Take the martini shaker and fill it halfway with ice cubes. Do not use shaved ice.
4. Pour 6 shots of vodka into the shaker.
5. Squeeze the lemon, carefully to control the output, and put 24 drops of lemon juice into the shaker.
6. Dip the eye dropper into the vermouth and fill it approximately halfway.
7. Carefully squeeze 12 drops of vermouth into the shaker.

Shaking Phase

1. Proceed to shake the martini shaker vigorously, first with the right hand, then the left. Shake for at least 45 seconds.

Pouring Phase

1. Remove the martini glasses (2) from the freezer. Using the strainer, pour the precious liquid into the glasses, being careful not to spill a drop. After you have some practice, you can pour with a little panache by placing the two glasses against each other and alternating the pour between the two.
2. Take your previously prepared lemon rind strips and, holding them by the ends, twist them until they become wet from the lemon juice you’re squeezing out of them.
3. Drop the twisted rind into the martini glass.

• Serve to your waiting guests.

Ensure you buy martini glasses large enough to hold the 3 shots of vodka, but not so large that the glass appears half empty. You should be forewarned that the Joetini is so smooth, cold and refreshing that your guests will likely consume them very quickly and be back for more. It is up to you as the host on martini night to pace your guests. Many a martini night at Joe’s ended early as guests lay asleep contentedly on various pieces of furniture around the living room.

Good luck my friends, and remember: Drink Responsibly.

I spent 7 hours at BST Tattoo shop yesterday. I got a chance to get to know Dave a bit and we talked about tattooing and life in general. He freehand drew my cover up image of choice on my arm with some Sharpie markers and once satisfied, got to work. As the tattoo started taking shape, the images I have lived with, and hated,  for so long started to  disappear. We’re not finished as we did only the black and grey portion yesterday. The color work will be done another day.

I knew I was going to get Traditional Japanese tattooing done as my cover up, but I wasn’t sure on the images I would use. After viewing many images of Japanese tattoos on-line, I finally selected a Koi. While there are several interpretations of the symbolism of a Koi tattoo, the prevailing and most popular interpretation is that of aspiration, determination, achievement, ambition and perseverance in a journey to ones goal in life.

An ancient Chinese tale reads as follows:

On the Yellow River at Hunan is a waterfall called the Dragon Gate. It is said that if certain carp called Yulong can climb the cataract they will transform into dragons. Every year in the third month of spring they swim up from the sea and gather in vast numbers in the pool at the foot of the falls. It used to be said that only seventy one could make the climb in any year. When the first succeeded, then the rains would begin to fall. This Dragon Gate was said to have been created after the Flood by the god-emperor Yu who split a mountain blocking the path of the Yellow River.¹

I felt the Koi symbolized not only my pursuit of physical strength, which I’ve started chronicling here, but the process I went through to get this tattoo in the first place. There will be more images added as I may ultimately end up with a sleeve on my left arm, but for now, I’m thrilled to have what I have named Big Fish on my arm.

1 http://www.unicorngarden.com/drag6.htm

I’ve been studying nutrition and exercise for over 20 years. I’ve experimented with all kinds of weight training and diet regimens, trained for running, triathlon, bodybuilding and powerlifting, all of it at the recreational level. I am not an athlete. What I am providing you here is the culmination of a lifetime’s practical experience and self-study.

In January of 2009, after 18 months of overeating to intentionally put on weight for a powerlifting competition, it was time to get lean again. I had put on 33 lbs over those 18 months, much of it in the form of body fat. I weighed 222 lbs, the most I’ve ever weighed in my 45 years.

I’m going to take you through exactly what I did to get here:

As I’m sure you can tell, these are not professional photographs; they have not been doctored in any way. The first one was taken January 2, 2009, the second on October 16, 2009. A roughly 9 ½ month fat loss odyssey and I’m going to show you exactly how I did it. If you’re ready, let’s get to it.

The basic components of the plan are diet, cardio, and weight training. These are the building blocks of any healthy fitness program and should be a lifestyle, not a temporary, short-term solution. How you manipulate the three components will determine your results, and I’ll cover that at the end.

Cardio Training

Cardiovascular training is essential for the health of your heart and lungs, as well as keeping body fat levels in check. The 3 Keys to cardio success:

1. Actually do it.
2. Complete cardio on an empty stomach.
3. Keep your heart rate in the 65%-85% HR zone.

There are lots of different activities you can use for cardio, from walking to cycling to in-line skating. Any form of cardio equipment will work as well, as long as you follow the 3 Keys.

Q & A

Q: Why on an empty stomach?

A: Your body’s primary fuel source is stored glycogen. Glycogen is stored in the liver and muscle cells. If you perform your cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, your glycogen levels are at their lowest point so your body will have to tap into its other fuel source, stored body fat.

Q: How do I find my 65%-85% HR Zone?

A: The first thing to do is get your resting heart rate. You then plug that and your age into a handy spreadsheet I’ve made for you and you’ll get your HR Zone.

http://howjoeseesit.net/2008/12/30/how-to-calculate-your-training-heart-rate/

I recommend you purchase a Heart Rate monitor to make your cardio life easier. Otherwise you’ll have to be checking your pulse and doing the math as you’re trying to do cardio.

You can purchase your HR Monitor here:

• Full disclosure. I am an Amazon Associate. I get a commission if you purchase through my Amazon A-Store. I’ve associated with Amazon because they are a reputable and trustworthy company. If you’re going to purchase the various items I suggest anyway, I’d greatly appreciate you considering purchasing them through my Amazon A-Store.

What I did:

Over the course of my odyssey I did various forms of cardio, including running (which I hate).  But my mainstay, especially in the last 6 months or so, is the Stair Climber.  My reasons are simple (I try to keep everything as simple as possible):

1. The Stair Climber is a non-impact activity, which is very easy on the body.
2. Climbing stairs is tough, so it’s easy to get your heart rate into the HR Zone.
3. I can read, or use twitter, facebook or any of my other iPhone apps to entertain myself while doing my cardio.

Weight training

Resistance exercise is an important component of a fitness lifestyle. But don’t take my word for it:

Resistance exercise is used to develop the strength and size of skeletal muscles. Properly performed, resistance training can provide significant functional benefits and improvement in overall health and well-being.

The goal of resistance training, according to the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI), is to “gradually and progressively overload the musculoskeletal system so it gets stronger.” Research shows that regular resistance training will strengthen and tone muscles and increase bone mass.

It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female; the training program I’m going to outline works the same way for all humans. Women who are concerned about growing large, masculine muscles need to stop worrying about it. First of all, it’s incredibly difficult to grow large amounts of muscle mass generally, but as a female, it’s 10 times more difficult. Women have 1/10^th the testosterone men have, and testosterone is THE anabolic hormone. So unless you plan on injecting yourself with large quantities of anabolic steroids, you will not grow large muscles.

The 3 Keys to making progress with any weight-training program are:

1. Warm up properly. Prepare your body for the hard work ahead.
2. Learn and practice proper form and technique.
3. Strive for incremental progress.

Rather than re-write the program in this post, here’s a link.

Diet:

I saved the best for last. Your diet will literally make or break your results. No manner of exercise can overcome a poor diet, especially if fat loss is the goal. I’ve experimented with all kinds of diet strategies, but the one I used during my 35 lb fat loss odyssey was my most effective.

There are only three macronutrients, and your body requires all three.

1. Protein
2. Carbohydrate
3. Fat

There are good and bad choices in each of the above. Here are the good ones:

Protein

Chicken

Turkey

Fish

Extra Lean ground beef

Eye of Round

Flank Steak

Eggs

Milk

Cottage Cheese

Whey Protein powder

Carbohydrates

Best

Oatmeal

Brown Rice

Sweet Potatoes

Not as good, but okay

Bread

Pasta

White Potatoes

White Rice

Fats

Olive oil

Walnuts

Almonds

Omega 3 EFA’s

Free Foods

Broccoli

Spinach

Romaine Lettuce

Asparagus

Green beans

Cauliflower

I ate 6 meals a day (and have for the last 23 years) which means eating every 3 hours or so. The way to put the meals together is using a rotational carbohydrate plan. There are low carb days, moderate carb days and one high carb day each week. This is a highly effective fat loss strategy because the low carb days keep insulin levels low allowing you to burn more body fat, moderate days are kind of like maintenance days and the high carb day boosts your metabolism and tops off your glycogen stores.

It sounds complicated, but once you put it together, it’s not. This article will give you the basics you need.

The 3 Keys to dieting success:

1. Consistency. The more consistently you stick to your meal plans, the quicker your results.
2. Adjustments. When you first start, you’re using a baseline of macronutrients. You will need to weigh in and look in the mirror at the same time every week to check your progress. If you haven’t made any, you need to make small adjustments by cutting some macronutrients (likely carbs).
3. Patience. Most people bail out on their diet strategy because they want instant results. Your body doesn’t work that way.

Putting the whole thing together:

Here’s what your week will look like:

• 3 days – AM Cardio and low carb
• 4 days – AM Cardio, PM Weight training and 3 medium carb, 1 high carb

Example:

• Monday: AM Cardio followed by low carb day
• Tuesday: AM Cardio followed by medium carb day, PM weight training
• Wednesday: AM Cardio followed by high carb day, PM weight training
• Thursday: AM Cardio followed by low carb day
• Friday: AM Cardio followed by low carb day
• Saturday: AM Cardio followed by medium carb day, PM weight training
• Sunday: AM Cardio followed by medium carb day, PM weight training

What level you start on will depend on your fitness level. If you’re a complete beginner, 20 minutes of cardio 3 days a week might be enough. Add 1 day every two weeks until you’re doing cardio every day. Then add 5 minutes every two weeks (every week if you’re up to it) until you’re up to an hour a day. Follow the guidelines in the weight training program regarding progress. Again, start at the appropriate fitness level. The single most important aspect of the program is to check your progress on a regular basis. I did it every week, weighing in every Saturday morning before I had anything to eat or drink. If I made progress, I’d continue as I was. If I didn’t, I would look back honestly at my week to determine how tight my diet was. If I cheated or didn’t stick to it, I would change nothing and just vow to nail the diet the next week. Depending on how much body fat you have, you should look for about 1 pound of weight loss per week. If you’re losing more than that, you are probably losing lean muscle mass as well as fat, which indicates you’re not eating enough. This is a rough estimate because if you’re very heavy, you may drop 2-3 pounds a week early on.

• An important note about adjusting your diet. I would go many weeks without having to change a thing on my diet. The cardio burns the body fat and is much more effective than trying to starve yourself leaner. If you’ve stalled on your fat loss, add more cardio before you cut your food intake. For about two months during my odyssey I would come home from work on my cardio and low carb days and do a second cardio session of about 20 or 30 minutes. It really kick started the fat loss again without touching my diet.

I wish you much success in your fat loss efforts. If this sounds difficult, that’s because it is. If it were easy, we wouldn’t have an obesity epidemic in this country. 65% of Americans are overweight, with approximately 31% clinically obese. If you decide to pursue your own odyssey, know that you will come out in the end not only a healthier, leaner and sexier individual, but one that is immensely stronger in character and psyche.

Today, the highest court in the land overturned these laws indicating that the First Amendment of the Constitution gives corporations, just like individuals, a right to spend their own money on political campaigns if they so choose.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.²

The Supreme Court heard its first challenge of the 1971 Federal Election Campaign, which restricted the monetary contributions that could be made to political candidates, in 1976. It affirmed certain parts of the law, but rejected others. Interestingly, that Supreme Court stated that the law served the basic interest of preserving the integrity of the electoral process by restricting contributions.

New law was created in 2002 creating several additional restrictions on the financing of political campaigns. Again, the Supreme Court heard challenges to the law and again, they upheld certain aspects and rejected others.

Today’s decision is a sweeping one that will impact everyday American citizens in a deeply profound way. Corporations are now free to spend unlimited sums of money to run political ad campaigns for or against political candidates. They still have limitations on direct contributions, but they can run television, radio and Internet ads, direct mailing, and any other form of campaign advertising they choose without restriction.

How does this ruling impact us all? Our elected officials, sent to Washington to serve our interests and represent us with their vote, will be subjected to immense pressure to succumb to whatever interests the corporate lobbyists bring to their attention. Should they believe these interests do not align with those of their constituents, and try to vote against them, they will face a barrage of advertising against them and their opponent will literally get a free ride in the advertising market as the corporate interests try to get their candidate into office.

You might be wondering how the voting went among our nine Supremes. The five Republican nominees, including George W. Bush’s two, voted in favor of allowing free corporate spending. Justice Roberts stated that he was not prepared to “embrace a theory of the 1st Amendment that would allow censorship not only of television and radio broadcasts, but of pamphlets, posters, the Internet and virtually any other medium that corporations and unions might find useful in expressing their views on matters of public concern.”¹

In the dissent, Justice Stevens wrote that today’s decision was “a radical change in the law … that dramatically enhances the role of corporations and unions — and the narrow interests they represent — in determining who will hold public office.” He went on to state what should be obvious to all of us. “Corporations are not human beings. They can’t vote and can’t run for office.” He added that under today’s decision “multinational corporations controlled by foreign governments” would have the same rights as Americans to spend money to tilt U.S. elections.¹

The White House wasted no time in issuing a statement on this ruling:

Statement from the President on Today’s Supreme Court Decision

With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans. This ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington–while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates. That’s why I am instructing my Administration to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue. We are going to talk with bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision. The public interest requires nothing less.³

The dilemma here is that to change the Supreme Court’s decision, the US Constitution would have to be amended. That’s no easy process. Two thirds of both Houses of Congress would have to vote to propose an amendment, and then three fourths of the state legislatures would have to approve it. Only 27 amendments have ever been ratified and there have been thousands of proposals.

Today, corporations Rule the Day.

1. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission No. 08-205

2. US Constitution, Bill of Rights, Amendment I

3. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary whitehouse.gov

When we had children, we agreed the children would be raised Jewish, after all their mother was Jewish. I can’t say I didn’t have any trepidation about this. Deep down in the recesses of my brain were implanted the seeds of fear; fear of eternal damnation.

Even though neither my wife nor I are particularly religious, we still wanted to give our children some basis in religious understanding. We went through several periods where we tried to teach them some religion, but we never got very far. So my children have a basic understanding of what religion is, but they’ve never been fully indoctrinated. There’s been no brainwashing, no drubbing of the same dogma repeatedly until it settles deep into your psyche.

What would happen if a young adult, say 14 years old, having not been exposed to the teachings of organized religion, were to start reading some of the ancient texts on which religions are based? I found this out one day, quite by accident.

My 14-year-old daughter’s softball coach was getting married, and we were invited to the wedding. It was a Catholic wedding, very traditional, so we arrived in church and took our seats in one of the pews. With time to kill before the wedding, my daughter reached for a bible from the little slot in the back of the pew in front of us. She stared at it for a bit, and opened it up.

My daughter is very bright. She is a straight A student, she plays the piano beautifully, she is athletic, and has some talent at drawing. I’m not trying to pump her up; these are merely facts.

As she read through Genesis, my curiosity peaked. What would she think of it? She has a basic understanding of the solar system, and perhaps the Milky Way. She knows there are literally countless stars in billions of galaxies in an ever-expanding universe (we’ve watched the Discovery channel). If I had to guess, I’d say she read somewhere between 5 and 10 pages before putting her finger on her place and looking up at me. “Dad, have you ever read this?” she asks. “Yes, a few times. Why?” She shakes her head slightly and says, “It’s like, crazy.” I just nodded and she read a bit more before putting it up. To my knowledge, it’s the last time she’s read any of it.

Reasonable people may disagree, it happens all the time. But it is fascinating that when an educated young adult, with at least some knowledge of the world in which she lives, opens the Bible and begins to read, she finds it to be almost laughable. Like a fairly tale perhaps. Yet across our planet, human beings live their lives wrapped up in this dogma. They live in fear of the devil, in fear of sin, following ancient rituals and in some cases, dying for their beliefs.

I find organized religion to be among the oddest of human behaviors. People who have almost no knowledge of the universe in which we live, because it is truly overwhelming to consider, honestly believe they know not only who created the universe, they also know the mind of the creator. They believe they know what the creator wants us to do, how the creator would have us live our lives. Many claim to speak for the creator, to interpret his words from the ancient texts. Some go so far as to say the creator has spoken to them directly. To top it all off, they believe mankind was made in the image of the creator of the universe. This seems awfully presumptuous to me.

Driving my daughters to their softball practice one day, they confided in me they were scared. They were distraught about their lives, about what it was all for, about what happened when they died. These are very likely the same things that brought about the creation of religion in the first place, many years ago. I told them that no one really knows, and if anyone told them they knew, they were lying or confused. I told them not to worry, because everything was exactly as it was supposed to be. They should look around at nature and it’s wondrous beauty and be amazed they were a part of it. Be happy, breathe in the fresh air, feel the sun on their faces. I had them look up at the clear blue sky with just a wisp or two of cloud. “Isn’t it beautiful?” I asked. “Yes” was the only answer. They smiled and I could see they had no worry on their face, no fear behind their eyes. I wish someone had told me that as a child.

Suggested Reading:

The Tao of Pooh

Tao Te Ching

What is Tao?

1. Your socks should match your pants. There’s nothing more hideous than white socks under your Dockers, or blue socks with your khaki’s. The color of your socks should match the color of your pants as closely as possible.
2. Your shoes should match your belt. This assumes you’re wearing a belt. Please do.
3. Never, under any circumstances, hang or clip anything from your belt. Nothing.
4. If you’re wearing dark colored pants, wear a lighter colored shirt and vice versa. Only Johnny Cash can pull off the black pants and black shirt look.
5. If you’re wearing navy, wear a brown belt and shoes, not black.

Things you need to own:

1. Dockers or Dockers-style slacks in Black, Navy, Khaki and Grey.
2. Lots of long sleeved collared shirts. You’ll be able to mix and match your shirts with these four slacks and make countless combinations. No short sleeves guys, you’ll look like a dork.
3. Two belts; one black and one brown.
4. Two pairs of shoes; one pair of black shoes, and one pair of brown.

Now go out and dress with confidence, you good looking stud you.

For whatever reason, I tend to jabber on like a monkey in a tree whenever I get in the hot tub. I have a captive audience and I will recap my day’s activities, or blog ideas, or just do some story telling. At some point, my wife will ask for silence to meditate in the hot, bubbling water (a nice way of telling me to stop yapping).

Tonight, she told me to try to block out all thought, don’t let anything in. It turned out to be a fascinating experiment for me, and remarkably difficult. You see, I have a hyperactive mind.

The first thought that popped into my mind was the image of a red funnel. I was about to block it out, and decided instead to enlarge it until the edges were right against the inside of my skull. I would use it to force any other intruding thoughts down through the funnel and into my throat. For a short time, there was nothing but the funnel.

A racecar, red & white, pulled up alongside the funnel but could not get in, and instead pointed straight down and drove away. I told my wife about this and she shushed me. A blank piece of paper and a pen floated by over the top of the funnel and got sucked in and forced down.  A little squirrel sat just outside the funnel nibbling on something. He was floating in the air, so some grass appeared under him and I could see the roots of a tree. I looked away and I saw my MacBook glowing off to the right. The funnel was keeping things out, but the periphery was very busy.

Just then, my wife said it was over. I opened my eyes and my actual surroundings came flooding back into focus. The funnel was gone, and my mind was free again to wander. I sit here now trying to get that feeling back, that emptying of the mind, but I cannot. I’ve mentioned previously that I’m a student of Taoism, and emptiness is a key Taoist concept.

The still mind of the sage is the mirror of heaven and earth, the glass of all things. Vacancy, stillness, placidity, tastelessness, quietude, silence, and non-action – this is the Level of heaven and earth, and the perfection of the Tao and its characteristics.

Perhaps with practice, I will become better at it. Perhaps.

Under President Obama, the “War on Terror” catch phrase has been shelved as the President explained “Words matter in this situation because one of the ways we’re going to win this struggle is through the battle of hearts and minds. ” While the current administration may be trying to bury the terminology, not much has changed in the policy. The President’s strategy, as laid out in his address of December 1, 2009, maintains the core goal laid out in the beginning of his administration: to disrupt, dismantle, and eventually defeat al Qaeda and to prevent their return to either Afghanistan or Pakistan.[2]

The war against terrorism, whatever it will be called in the future, is problematic because war is between countries, between military forces. Wars are fought over geopolitical issues, land, resources, or ideology. Terrorism is the act of creating fear, generally as a means to coerce a desired result. So the question that begs to be answered is “how do you wage war against fear and the disparate elements that try to create it?”

Terrorism has been used throughout history, having been described as being as old as civilization itself. Academics disagree on a meaningful definition for terrorism, but most agree that it is a violent act intended to create fear, deliberately targeting or disregarding the safety of civilians. There is usually an ideological goal, but it is sometimes difficult to discern.

When the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001, it was to pursue Al-Qaeda, who had sent their recruits on suicide missions to the US. Additionally, we would remove the Taliban from power because we believed the Taliban had given Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda a safe haven to train and recruit would be terrorists. 8 ½ years later, we’re still at it.

When the United States invaded Iraq, it was because Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein allegedly had terrorist ties, along with weapons of mass destruction. The Iraq war is a very telling example of how difficult it is to attempt to fight individuals who wish to strike fear into the heart of their perceived enemies. Al-Qaeda was not in Iraq before the United States invaded and occupied the nation. Al-Qaeda leadership easily recruited new members to strike back at the United States for our invasion of Iraq, and to terrorize Iraqi citizens who potentially supported the US presence in Iraq.

Most recently a Nigerian man, supported and trained by Al-Qaeda in Yemen, attempted to blow himself up on a plane in Detroit. Fortunately it was a failed attempt, but the incident has shown us again that we are not safe from an individual determined to commit a crime.

Consider this: we are not safe from home invasions, muggings, car thefts, murders, liquor store hold ups, domestic abuse, kidnapping, rape, and a host of other crimes. These are law enforcement issues and while reasonable efforts are taken to prevent these crimes, they still occur and when they do, law enforcement goes to work to try and locate and prosecute the perpetrators. Yet we have engaged in a global military effort to not only catch and bring to justice the Al-Qaeda leadership responsible for the 9/11 attacks, but to prevent future terrorist groups or cells from ever forming.

One of the conceptual reasons for the Iraq war came from the project for the New American Century. A neo-conservative think tank that believes in using American military and financial influence to spread democracy around the world, creating governments friendly to the United States literally at the point of a gun. Even in theory this sounds far fetched, but in practice this is impossibility. Occupation has a lengthy track record of failure throughout the course of human history. The occupied will always rebel and their weapon of choice against a powerfully armed occupier will be terrorism.

As the United States continues its military offensive against a mobile foe that wears no uniform and uses our own policies to recruit more fanatics, terrorism will survive. In fact, the more US policy abroad continues on its current path, the easier it will be to recruit more young men and women to die for their cause, and take as many people with them as they can. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, both taken on as part of the war on terror have taken more American lives than all the 9/11 terrorist attacks combined. Four more American soldiers have lost their lives in the first week of 2010. The combined wars now cost the American taxpayer $10 billion dollars a month. Yet the average American is more likely to die from drowning, a car accident, a fire, a slip and fall in their own home, or walking across the street.

I fear that our government will have an incredibly difficult time bringing this failed attempt at finding potential terrorists in the world by following them around with our armies to an end. Politics will drive this war ever onward, as no politician will want to seem soft on terrorism. Should they make a statement against our terror policy, their political opponents will ride that statement to the polls. If the US government was serious about keeping America safe, it would focus on securing our open borders, having all our ports run by American companies and having all incoming cargo inspected. They would focus on improving our current immigration system and bringing our occupying military forces home, removing the one major recruiting tool for Al-Qaeda.

Osama Bin Laden himself has stated that his goal was to bleed America into bankruptcy. To send two Al-Qaeda operatives to a far-reaching corner of the world with a white cloth with Al-Qaeda printed on it, which would send the American military into a frenzy chasing them there. We have to ask ourselves, is Al-Qaeda closer to their goals than we are to ours?

[2] Whitehouse.gov

sup·ple·ment (spl-mnt)

n.

1. Something added to complete a thing, make up for a deficiency, or extend or strengthen the whole.

So get your training and diet together and when you’re ready here are the supplements, in order of importance, that will strengthen and complete the plan:

Multi-Vitamin. I don’t know a single person who has a perfect diet day in and day out. Take a quality multi with breakfast every day so you don’t have to worry about whether you ate enough kale today.

Omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3’s are essential fatty acids that are vital to the health of every membrane of every cell in your body. Unless you’re eating a lot of herring, mackerel and anchovies, you should supplement your diet. Each capsule is only 1 gram of fat; so don’t be afraid to take lots. I take at least 6 a day, sometimes more. Keep in mind one teaspoon of olive oil is 5 grams of fat, so taking 5 Omega 3’s is the equivalent of one teaspoon of olive oil.

Creatine monohydrate. Creatine is the most studied supplement in the history of performance supplements. Creatine is found naturally in beef and is part of the intercellular energy cycle. Supplementing with creatine will ensure your cells are saturated with what they need to produce the energy you are demanding when you train. I take 5 grams mixed with water in my post workout meal every day.

Zinc. Zinc is an essential micronutrient and plays a significant role in growth and development of muscle and other tissue. Hard training leads to decreases of blood levels of zinc. Over 2 billion people on the planet are deficient. Don’t be one of them. I take 50 MG a day.

BCAA. There are eight essential amino acids that cannot be produced by the body and must be supplied by your food. Of these, three are the branch chained amino acids that make up 35% of your muscle mass. Taking BCAA’s before, during and after a tough weight training workout will help improve performance, prevent catabolism and spur recovery. I take 5 grams mixed in water that I drink during my weight training workouts.

Beta Alanine. Supplementation with beta-alanine has been shown to increase the concentration of carnosine in muscles. By promoting high levels of intramuscular carnosine, beta-alanine supports maximum muscular endurance and improved performance. A side effect of supplementing with beta-alanine is a tingling of your skin, like a pins and needles feeling. I don’t care for that at all, so I take a little less than the suggested dose before and after the workout.

So there you have it hard gainers, a handful of supplements that will help you in your quest to muscle up. As you may know, I’m an Amazon Associate so I get a commission if you purchase any of your items from my Amazon A-Store. So if your going to buy these items anyway, I’d certainly appreciate you buying them from my A-Store. Before I forget, read my disclaimer here.

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9:49 PM Rush Limbaugh rushed to a Hawaii hospital with chest pain. Doctors have ordered an emergency pacemaker: The Dick Cheney model.

Soon, the news reached my friend Glenn Beck and he had some ideas of his own on the subject.

10:07 PM Rush is taken to the hospital with chest pain while vacationing in Hawaii, while President Obama and Speaker Pelosi are also vacationing in Hawaii?! Is is just me, or are there “connections” here?

10:19 PM You know who else was vacationing in Hawaii when Rush Limbaugh had chest pain and had to be hospitalized? Do you? Hitler….I mean Obama.

10:23 PM Isn’t it interesting, don’t you find it interesting, that there are no acorns in Hawaii but ACORN has an office in Hawaii? Oh yes, it’s interesting.

Rush has often been touted as the voice of the Republican party. While he has been at odds with party leadership many times in the past, this occasion brought out support from the RNC Chairman.

10:38 PM GOP Chairman Michael Steele suggests checking to see if Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are available to head to Hawaii at once.

Finally, as word broke that Rush was in stable condition one image crept into my mind.

10:46 PM Rush tells Grim Reaper he is not ready to go. He’s still trying to verify a certain Hawaiian Birth Certificate.

As of today’s date, Rush is resting comfortably in Honolulu and tests have found nothing wrong with his heart. He found time to make some political statements while he was there indicating he received the best health care treatment possible. “I don’t think there’s one thing wrong with the American health care system,” Limbaugh said. “I got no special treatment other than what anybody else that would have called 911 and had been brought in with the same kinds of symptoms.”

I seldom agree with Rush, but I agree with him here. Anyone else who called 911 with the same symptoms would have gotten roughly the same treatment. The difference becomes apparent when the bill comes. Rush’s Hawaiian Hospital Caper will likely cost over $100,000 which, without quality health insurance coverage, would bankrupt the average American.

I’m glad Rush is still in the fight. 2009 was a viciously tough year on celebrities,  taking many of them from their fans. We didn’t need one more to go before the clock struck twelve on 2009 for good.