On 30/12/2024 20:51, rbowman wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 12:33:29 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> Today we have crystal therapy, aroma therapy, lots of massage...one
>> yearns for the days of a snort of charlie and a damn good shag...
>
> Several years ago I thought tai chi might be a good way to maintain
> flexibility and enrolled in a class. Amazing what a bunch of New Agers can
> make out of simple movements. Of course the Asians added their own
> mysticism.
Indeed. I am enrolled in an NHS sponsored guided gym course to try and
get a bit fit after a major operation.

No mystical bollocks at all. Just plan exercising and pushing various
muscle groups, and the lungs and heart to reasonable limits

I've never found any merit in NewAgeBollocks™ at all.

--
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's
too dark to read.

Groucho Marx

On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 30/12/2024 11:38, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Sun, 29 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> On 29/12/2024 07:24, rbowman wrote:
>>>> The interest is necessary for the survival of humans. The Gods know the
>>>> Christians tried to stamp it out by saying it should only be used for
>>>> procreation and you weren't supposed to have fun.
>>>
>>> Catholic and Islamic girls are absolutely the hottest.
>>
>> Islamic? Don't they walk around in tents all the time? ;)
>
> Ah, but when they take the tents off...:-)

Oh dear... I think that's a death sentence for you, unless you're the
husband. ;)

On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 30/12/2024 11:41, D wrote:
>>
>>> It was all dredged up and reinvented in the 1930s by Crowley and
>>> associates.
>>
>> This is the truth! The era of eclecticism and spiritual conmen. 😉 I read a
>> biography of Austin Osman Spare and he labeled Crowly & Co as "bored,
>> dandys in whorehouses" or something like that, describing their sexual
>> magic.
>
> Well that is probably as apt as anything else :=)
>
> Today we have crystal therapy, aroma therapy, lots of massage...one yearns
> for the days of a snort of charlie and a damn good shag...

Massage is good! *-therapy not so much. For a good shag maybe Amsterdam or
Hamburg would work? ;)

On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 30/12/2024 11:51, D wrote:
>> But that's what you get for having a social scientist as father... you end
>> up in IT. 😉
>
> Either that or in therapy.

;)

On 31/12/2024 11:34, D wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> On 30/12/2024 11:38, D wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, 29 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 29/12/2024 07:24, rbowman wrote:
>>>>> The interest is necessary for the survival of humans. The Gods know
>>>>> the
>>>>> Christians tried to stamp it out by saying it should only be used for
>>>>> procreation and you weren't supposed to have fun.
>>>>
>>>> Catholic and Islamic girls are absolutely the hottest.
>>>
>>> Islamic? Don't they walk around in tents all the time? ;)
>>
>> Ah, but when they take the tents off...:-)
>
> Oh dear... I think that's a death sentence for you, unless you're the
> husband. ;)

Not really. Hormones are pretty unstoppable. But it can mean social
excommunication.

--
"Nature does not give up the winter because people dislike the cold."

― Confucius

On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 13:15:01 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> I use either regular butter for cooking (and on my bread), or olive oil.
>> I like the taste of high quality olive oil.
>
> Perhaps it's the diminished senses from aging but I've never figured out
> those olive oil tasting deals. I recently saw a comparison of the Kirkland
> types and the one I get is one of the better options but I settled on it
> by chance.

Maybe, maybe not. Or maybe it was the quality? Many oils I do not taste a
difference, but from time to time, I do get an oil that has a nice flowery
taste. Sweden or eastern europe is not prime hunting ground for that type
of oil, but when I go to spain, it is usually not difficult to get good
olive oil. =)

On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 13:07:00 +0100, D wrote:
>
>
>> This is the truth! In Stockholm there was one Ethiopian restaurant. I
>> went there once, and it was ok, but nothing spectacular. This must have
>> been about 20 years ago or so. Then it closed, and a new one has opened
>> close to my father, but it never seems to be full.
>
> There was one African restaurant in Boston. I think it might have been
> Ethiopian but I can't remember or what I ate. I didn't go back. It didn't
> last long and that's a city that loves its ethnic food.
>
> iirc the Masai shoot their cattle with hollow arrows to gather the blood
> and then prepare a delicacy with ashes and cow urine. I don't think it
> will catch on. Like the American Indians when they move to town and switch
> to a carbohydrate based diet it does them no good compared to blood, milk,
> butter, and the odd tuber they evolved to eat.

Ahh... but if the public doesn't like the dish, they can always claim
racism, and get government money for support! ;)

On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 13:04:29 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> Beavers are cute too, but they have no concept of respect for others
>> private property!
>
> A group purchased a tract of nearby land next to the river and set up a
> challenge course. Part of the course was sort of a zip line strung between
> two trees about 20' off the ground. A beaver had industriously gnawed his
> way through a good sized cottonwood but his plan was thwarted when it hung
> up on the zip line. I could picture an irate beaver looking up at all the
> tender leaves and branches and saying WTF?
>
> I've seen a few otters. They seem to enjoy themselves more than a lot of
> wildlife that is all business.
>

Yes... otters are smart creatures. If man goes extinct, forget monkeys,
I'm sure otters will be the next master race!

On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 13:08:17 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> Very sad, I'm sorry to hear it. =( Yes, many blue collar people I
>> imagine see work as work, and would be happy living retired. I think
>> that blue collar lifestyle choices might sometimes cut their lifes a bit
>> shorter than normal.
>
> Cynically the US Social Security scheme assumed most people would die
> before getting much money back.
>

Ahh... but this game is being played in europe a well. I think my
generation is expected to work until 71 or 73 until the sweet, sweet,
retirement money starts to flow. I think I might be able to withdraw my
private pension at 55, but I'm far from sure.

On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 12:51:07 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> A doctor criticized it for being unreliable, and saying that you'll
>> always get some kind of alarm or trigger, and that having loads of these
>> cabinets will overflow the healthcare system by anxious millionaires and
>> billionaires for what in the end turned out to be nothing.
>
> Many dentists have started taking the patient's blood pressure as part of
> the exam. For convenience they use the cuffs that go around your wrist
> that are very prone to reading high. My doctor says she gets referrals
> from dentists that have perfectly normal BP.
>
> I got a Fitbit last year and it's fairly useful for keeping track of my
> walks but I don't pay much attention to the rest of the features. On the
> fitbit subreddit there are a surprising number of people that head to the
> emergency room every time a $100 device has a glitch. For example it has
> an ECG function. I get random results, normal sinus rhythm, inconclusive,
> or atrial fibrillation. Somehow I trust the type with all the patches
> stuck to your chest hair to holding both sides of a glorified wristwatch
> between your thumb and forefinger.

This is very wise! If the health care system becomes more socialized, it
is important to reduce unnecessary visits or eventually the system will
grind to a halt completely.

On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 12:33:29 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> Today we have crystal therapy, aroma therapy, lots of massage...one
>> yearns for the days of a snort of charlie and a damn good shag...
>
> Several years ago I thought tai chi might be a good way to maintain
> flexibility and enrolled in a class. Amazing what a bunch of New Agers can
> make out of simple movements. Of course the Asians added their own
> mysticism.
>

Here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjObalYKTHE

If it worked for the nazis, it will work for anyone! ;)

On 2024-12-31, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

> On 31/12/2024 11:34, D wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> On 30/12/2024 11:38, D wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Sun, 29 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 29/12/2024 07:24, rbowman wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> The interest is necessary for the survival of humans. The Gods know
>>>>>> the Christians tried to stamp it out by saying it should only be
>>>>>> used for procreation and you weren't supposed to have fun.
>>>>>
>>>>> Catholic and Islamic girls are absolutely the hottest.
>>>>
>>>> Islamic? Don't they walk around in tents all the time? ;)
>>>
>>> Ah, but when they take the tents off...:-)
>>
>> Oh dear... I think that's a death sentence for you, unless you're the
>> husband. ;)
>
> Not really. Hormones are pretty unstoppable. But it can mean social
> excommunication.

It's ironic that the people who mandate the tents are basically
admitting that it's their own hormones that are unstoppable.

--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | Growth for the sake of
\ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | growth is the ideology
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | of the cancer cell.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | -- Edward Abbey

On Tue, 31 Dec 2024 12:53:02 +0100, D wrote:

> Here you go:
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjObalYKTHE
>
> If it worked for the nazis, it will work for anyone!

I don't think their emphasis on fresh air and physical fitness was
entirely a bad thing. They were building on Jahn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Ludwig_Jahn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandervogel

The Wandervogel got pulled into the HJ and BDM.

On 31/12/2024 20:40, Charlie Gibbs wrote:
> On 2024-12-31, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On 31/12/2024 11:34, D wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 30/12/2024 11:38, D wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Sun, 29 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 29/12/2024 07:24, rbowman wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The interest is necessary for the survival of humans. The Gods know
>>>>>>> the Christians tried to stamp it out by saying it should only be
>>>>>>> used for procreation and you weren't supposed to have fun.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Catholic and Islamic girls are absolutely the hottest.
>>>>>
>>>>> Islamic? Don't they walk around in tents all the time? ;)
>>>>
>>>> Ah, but when they take the tents off...:-)
>>>
>>> Oh dear... I think that's a death sentence for you, unless you're the
>>> husband. ;)
>>
>> Not really. Hormones are pretty unstoppable. But it can mean social
>> excommunication.
>
> It's ironic that the people who mandate the tents are basically
> admitting that it's their own hormones that are unstoppable.
>
Well its all about keeping sex as a thing not to get bored with.

So the birthrate stays high

--
Renewable energy: Expensive solutions that don't work to a problem that
doesn't exist instituted by self legalising protection rackets that
don't protect, masquerading as public servants who don't serve the public.

On 2024-12-28, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:02:09 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
>
>> I'm sure JFK Jr was convinced he had the coast in sight and was
>> maintaining level flight - right up until the belly hit a wave
>> .......
>
> The Buddy Holly wreck looked lke the pilot flew it into the ground. That's
> hard to do in Iowa unless you're seriously confused.

A youtuber named Alec Joshua Ibay does aircraft accident
reconstructions/play-by-plays and did cover the Buddy Holly crash.

I like his stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3gZ-Qw_HDY

pH in Aptos

On 12/31/24 6:48 AM, D wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 12:51:07 +0100, D wrote:
>>
>>> A doctor criticized it for being unreliable, and saying that you'll
>>> always get some kind of alarm or trigger, and that having loads of these
>>> cabinets will overflow the healthcare system by anxious millionaires and
>>> billionaires for what in the end turned out to be nothing.
>>
>> Many dentists have started taking the patient's blood pressure as part of
>> the exam. For convenience they use the cuffs that go around your wrist
>> that are very prone to reading high. My doctor says she gets referrals
>> from dentists that have perfectly normal BP.
>>
>> I got a Fitbit last year and it's fairly useful for keeping track of my
>> walks but I don't pay much attention to the rest of the features. On the
>> fitbit subreddit there are a surprising number of people that head to the
>> emergency room every time a $100 device has a glitch. For example it has
>> an ECG function. I get random results, normal sinus rhythm, inconclusive,
>> or atrial fibrillation. Somehow I trust the type with all the patches
>> stuck to your chest hair to holding both sides of a glorified wristwatch
>> between your thumb and forefinger.
>
> This is very wise! If the health care system becomes more socialized, it
> is important to reduce unnecessary visits or eventually the system will
> grind to a halt completely.

The UK figured it out ... just leave patients on a gurney
for about 24 hours and hopefully half of them will just die ...

On Tue, 31 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 31/12/2024 11:34, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> On 30/12/2024 11:38, D wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, 29 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 29/12/2024 07:24, rbowman wrote:
>>>>>> The interest is necessary for the survival of humans. The Gods know the
>>>>>> Christians tried to stamp it out by saying it should only be used for
>>>>>> procreation and you weren't supposed to have fun.
>>>>>
>>>>> Catholic and Islamic girls are absolutely the hottest.
>>>>
>>>> Islamic? Don't they walk around in tents all the time? ;)
>>>
>>> Ah, but when they take the tents off...:-)
>>
>> Oh dear... I think that's a death sentence for you, unless you're the
>> husband. ;)
>
> Not really. Hormones are pretty unstoppable. But it can mean social
> excommunication.

Or getting killed. In Sweden, there have been a few cases where women have
been thrown out of buildings after some relationship issues surfaced
within the arabian family.

I think the offending man getting thrown out of a building would not be
that much of a stretch of the imagination.

On Tue, 31 Dec 2024, Charlie Gibbs wrote:

> On 2024-12-31, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On 31/12/2024 11:34, D wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 30/12/2024 11:38, D wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Sun, 29 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 29/12/2024 07:24, rbowman wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The interest is necessary for the survival of humans. The Gods know
>>>>>>> the Christians tried to stamp it out by saying it should only be
>>>>>>> used for procreation and you weren't supposed to have fun.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Catholic and Islamic girls are absolutely the hottest.
>>>>>
>>>>> Islamic? Don't they walk around in tents all the time? ;)
>>>>
>>>> Ah, but when they take the tents off...:-)
>>>
>>> Oh dear... I think that's a death sentence for you, unless you're the
>>> husband. ;)
>>
>> Not really. Hormones are pretty unstoppable. But it can mean social
>> excommunication.
>
> It's ironic that the people who mandate the tents are basically
> admitting that it's their own hormones that are unstoppable.

It's an evil, medieval superstition that should be eradicated from this
planet. I saw on the news yesterday that the talibans have outlawed
windows facing areas where women move or perform work. The reason is that
it can create thoughts of sin in men.

On Tue, 31 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 31 Dec 2024 12:53:02 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> Here you go:
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjObalYKTHE
>>
>> If it worked for the nazis, it will work for anyone!
>
> I don't think their emphasis on fresh air and physical fitness was
> entirely a bad thing. They were building on Jahn.

I think it is good.

> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Ludwig_Jahn
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandervogel
>
> The Wandervogel got pulled into the HJ and BDM.

There is more!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pehr_Henrik_Ling

Embrace the Ling-system and prosper!

On Wed, 1 Jan 2025, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:

> On 12/31/24 6:48 AM, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 12:51:07 +0100, D wrote:
>>>
>>>> A doctor criticized it for being unreliable, and saying that you'll
>>>> always get some kind of alarm or trigger, and that having loads of these
>>>> cabinets will overflow the healthcare system by anxious millionaires and
>>>> billionaires for what in the end turned out to be nothing.
>>>
>>> Many dentists have started taking the patient's blood pressure as part of
>>> the exam. For convenience they use the cuffs that go around your wrist
>>> that are very prone to reading high. My doctor says she gets referrals
>>> from dentists that have perfectly normal BP.
>>>
>>> I got a Fitbit last year and it's fairly useful for keeping track of my
>>> walks but I don't pay much attention to the rest of the features. On the
>>> fitbit subreddit there are a surprising number of people that head to the
>>> emergency room every time a $100 device has a glitch. For example it has
>>> an ECG function. I get random results, normal sinus rhythm, inconclusive,
>>> or atrial fibrillation. Somehow I trust the type with all the patches
>>> stuck to your chest hair to holding both sides of a glorified wristwatch
>>> between your thumb and forefinger.
>>
>> This is very wise! If the health care system becomes more socialized, it is
>> important to reduce unnecessary visits or eventually the system will grind
>> to a halt completely.
>
>
> The UK figured it out ... just leave patients on a gurney
> for about 24 hours and hopefully half of them will just die ...
>

I think this has been tried in sweden as well. Sweden also started to
charge a minimum fee of around 20 EUR or so to get rid of old people who
just went to the doctor to socialize when it was free.

In eastern europe where I live now, they have solved it by making it
impossible to get a time within the public system. On the very rare
occasions that I go to the doctor, I always go to a private one, so I can
book a time within a day or two.

On 01/01/2025 11:47, D wrote:
> It's an evil, medieval superstition that should be eradicated from this
> planet. I saw on the news yesterday that the talibans have outlawed
> windows facing areas where women move or perform work. The reason is
> that it can create thoughts of sin in men.

Well so it can. The Islamic system of keeping men and women completely
apart and ignorant until safely married and regarding all men as
incapable of suppressing their urges works at the level of the society
it exists in.

It just doesn't gel well with the Western lifestyle, which allows lots
of sex before, during, in and out of marriage, because fundamentally we
have antibiotics, birth control pills and condoms etc.

--
“The fundamental cause of the trouble in the modern world today is that
the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt."

- Bertrand Russell

On Wed, 1 Jan 2025 12:37:07 +0100, D wrote:

> I think the offending man getting thrown out of a building would not be
> that much of a stretch of the imagination.

It could be worse than defenestration.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_and_Lorena_Bobbitt

On Wed, 1 Jan 2025 12:52:40 +0100, D wrote:

> There is more!
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pehr_Henrik_Ling
>
> Embrace the Ling-system and prosper!

The suggestion that he may have influenced eastern methods is interesting.
Those long genealogies of the schools never impressed me. The class I
enrolled in use southern Wu and the instructor went on at length about the
lineage. My suspicion was he chose it for its obscurity. Job security.

https://todaystaichi.com/index.php/tai-chi-kung-10-form/

It's sometimes called 8 form since the opening and closing forms aren't
very interesting. As far as I can see the 108 form is more of the same,
except rather than returning to a home position you need a lot more area.

On Wed, 1 Jan 2025 12:58:28 +0100, D wrote:

> I think this has been tried in sweden as well. Sweden also started to
> charge a minimum fee of around 20 EUR or so to get rid of old people who
> just went to the doctor to socialize when it was free.

But you meet the nicest people. When I checked in for last year's exam the
receptionist led me to an exam room which sort of surprised me since
there's usually a short wait. When I walked in my doctor and the woman in
the room were rather surprised too.

It turned out the receptionist had been told her husband was going to pick
her up and the first old fart through the door would do as her husband.

On Wed, 1 Jan 2025, rbowman wrote:

> On Wed, 1 Jan 2025 12:52:40 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> There is more!
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pehr_Henrik_Ling
>>
>> Embrace the Ling-system and prosper!
>
> The suggestion that he may have influenced eastern methods is interesting.

Yes, I heard about it, but I think it will probably forever remain a
theory. Would be fun if true, though!

> Those long genealogies of the schools never impressed me. The class I
> enrolled in use southern Wu and the instructor went on at length about the
> lineage. My suspicion was he chose it for its obscurity. Job security.
>
> https://todaystaichi.com/index.php/tai-chi-kung-10-form/

This is the truth! In the past 10 years or so there has been a crisis
within traditional chinese martial arts. It turned out, when
MMA/Boxer/Wrestlers started to challenge the old masters, that they were
more or less worthless at fighting.

This led to a lot of soul searching and wringing of hands by the communist
party since this destroyed the self-image of chinese martial arts, and in
the end they accepted that there can be no alternative to sparring and
actual fighting, no matter how many forms you learn, and china hs slowly
been moving towards embracing MMA & Co.

> It's sometimes called 8 form since the opening and closing forms aren't
> very interesting. As far as I can see the 108 form is more of the same,
> except rather than returning to a home position you need a lot more area.