The Piercing Eye

Welcome to 2021! It’s the 71st year of the Gramscian March in America. I’m dating the beginning at 1950, the first year of the Korean War. The socialists could not take us militarily so an alternate plan was needed. This is it. Well, mostly it. The substance is a lot more complicated than this summary but the principles reman the same.

The birth of the Messiah as prophesied by Isaiah.

Then he said, “Hear, house of David! Is it too little for you to make men weary, that you should also make my God weary? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look! the virgin is with child and she is about to give birth to a son, and she shall call his name ‘God with us.’ (7:13-14, LEB)

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;    light has shined on those who lived in a land of darkness. You have made the nation numerous;    you have not made the joy great. They rejoice in your presence as with joy at the harvest,    as they rejoice when they divide plunder. For you have shattered the yoke of its burden    and the stick of its shoulder,    the rod of its oppressor, on the day of Midian. For every boot that marches and shakes the earth    and garment rolled in blood will be for burning—fire fuel. For a child has been born for us;    a son has been given to us. And the dominion will be on his shoulder,    and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,     Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His dominion will grow continually,    and to peace there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom,    to establish it and sustain it with justice and righteousness    now and forever. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.(9:2-7, LEB)

We’re all genetic cousins. All 7.4 billion of us. We have our differences. All families do. But nothing so dire as to keep us divided forever.

The example in the above table put another way. In a “mini versus a monster” confrontation, there is a 90% chance the mini will either die or suffer permanent damage.

Physical fitness is critical for what’s coming. This video of an old guy getting pushed from a bus says it all. Being fit helps prevent injuries so you must be as fit as possible for your age. You don’t need to be a power lifter or anything but you have to be strong, flexible and nimble.

I got back into weight lifting after a 17 year hiatus because passing the fitness test below was a stretch. The StrongLifts 5x5 system has worked extremely well for me. Much better than any systems I used in the past. I highly recommend StrongLifts. My goal was over 110 pounds per lift (modest, I know) and I met that goal in 14 weeks. I’m 61 years old.

Basic Fitness Test

I got this from some YouTube channel. I forgot which one.

Equipment

Setup markers 10 meters apart.

2 x 20 pound hand weights.

15 pound weight vest.

Sport watch with stopwatch and/or countdown functions.

Test

Do 4 rounds of the following within 6 minutes. Wear the weight vest and use the hand weights for the farmer carry.

5 modified burpees.

20 meter shuttle, i.e. run/walk.

10 alternating lunges.

40 meter farmer carry shuttle

Notes

Modified burpee - Standing straight with arms by sides, move chest to the ground, extend legs fully to the rear then stand back up. We called these squat thrusts back in the day.

Alternating lunges - Start standing, move one leg forward until thigh is parallel to the ground, rear knee lightly touching the ground, stand back up then swap legs while standing in place. A note of caution. Keep the knee pretty much over the ankle otherwise you risk knee injury.

The physical part is easy compared to starting then pushing through the first six weeks. Do what you can on exercise day even if it’s just one lift. Heck, even if it’s just one rep of one lift. Remember, getting into shape is a system, not a goal. If you work the system, the goal will take care of itself.

Here is my home gym. Nothing fancy but it works. It’s been a huge help in coping with the corona virus lock down.

I posted this in my old blog on December 14th, 2011. Knowing these characteristics has become even more important in the age of social media.

Here are a few basic Extremist characteristics gathered from years of interacting with them on Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), Usenet, blogs and in person. These characteristics are remarkably consistent and seem to be cross generational.

Extremists believe their view to be the moderate view. If they are hard left, then even left-of-center views are considered “extreme”. The same for hard right Extremists.

Extremists see themselves as reasonable and don’t understand why so many others don’t share their views. The others must be stupid or mentally ill or “bitter clingers” since they don’t believe the same things the Extremist believes.

Extremists have an all or nothing mindset. Everything that is not part of their view is absolutely wrong. Everything that is a part of their view is absolutely right. No gray areas.

Extremists don’t compromise. There is nowhere to go except toward moderate and moderate is “extreme” to the Extremist.

Extremists argue from authority in discussions but only if the authority shares their views. Introducing contrary authority into a discussion is fruitless. The contrary authority is either ignored or reviled but never considered.

Extremists use sarcasm, ridicule and hate speech in discussions when rational argument fails to persuade others to their view. The current trend is to go right to SRAHS without attempting to be rational.

Extremists tend to use “shut down” phrases after presenting one of their views. For example, the Extremist states one of their views then attempts to shuts down discussion with a “just saying” statement.

Extremists are self-referential and “clubby”. Coded speech is very common and alternate meaning is attached to everything from films to food.

Extremists believe they know what’s best for everyone else and desire to impose those beliefs. It’s as if they don’t recognize people as unique individuals.