Chronicles: Alan B. Rowley II - Success Warrior - ECoach - P90X

Don't Expect to See This Headline Very Often

"93-year-old froze to death, owed big utility bill"

Not because this isn't going to happen much but because I've long said that this sort of thing could be the trigger to serious riots.  As people freeze to death while we continue to bail out Wall Street so that execitives can take half million dollar spa outings to relieve the stress of the financial meltdown, the have-nots are going to get a tad bitter.

Corporate media could use these stories to spark off dissent in order to speed up the installment of the police state but that's really playing with fire.  They would hav to do it sooner than later.  They need some riots but small riots.  If they wait too long, too many people might get involved.  Fear and isolation is the only way to maintain the type of control that they are looking for.  If enough people band together, both are lost.

Wait until all of the artificial money being pumped into the system actually takes hold.  Oil prices backed off for this winter but will it be the same next year?  When prices start going back up, investors are going to drive up the prices of oil (and other commodities). 

We're going to be in a mess if the government continues to chase after a 14,000 stock market that was based on the illusion of wealth.  It was all based on borrowed money that was from borrowed money that used borrowed money as collateral to borrow more money.  It's something that we can't get back to unless we start producing real products and real food.  Money for nothing got us into the problem and money from nothing isn't going to get us out.

What's your vote on what the media will do when more people freeze to death?

1. Media blackout.

2. Extra coverage to instill early resentment.

An Army of One, Maybe One and a Half

<----- Must have spilled some of her hot cocoa.

I read an interesting article and watched an interesting video on Army recruiting.

Article: The Army is having a hard time finding recruits.  Not because people aren't interested in pillaging and looting Middle East countries for their oil so that the United States can maintain it's world empire and oil-backed fiat currency but because wannabes are too overweight to join.

To combat this (combat, get it?), the Army has started a pre-boot camp that helps people get their GED's and lose weight (the two aren't necessarily connected problems).  They already had the GED camp in place and have added the weight loss clinic on top of that.

Video: They have opened a free video game place in a mall where you sit in real Hummers and Blackhawks and shoot things with machine guns.  Trying to show people how fun it is to go around killing people who are trying to defend themselves from an illegal occupation. 

I found the video so I'll share.

Week 3 Update

I lost a pound.  That's a step in the right direction.

It's been kind of a crazy week and now that college has started up, I don't think they will get any less crazy during the next few months.

Tuesday I skipped my run but I can't remember why now.  Must have been doing something.

Thursday was the same.  I skipped the extra cardio in the afternoon but I don't remember what I did to replace it.  I can't even consider my memory to be much of a memory.  If I don't make notes each night, that day disappears forever.

I did everything else on my fitness to-do list and had a great time doing it.  Saturday's weight lifting is always near the top of my favorite workouts for the week.  We push hard.  I'm lifting more than I ever have.  I'm feeling better than I have in a couple of months and I'm lovin' it as the evil clown would say.

Monday starts a new week where I'm going to be trying to figure out how to read 4 text books while maintaining my exercise routine and somehow sneak in a bit of blogging.

Now, I better get back to the books before I call it a night.

***

You can visit my Beach Body site for more information on P90X or any of their other great products.  P90X gets results.  I can stand behind the program 100%.  I also enjoy Turbo Jam when I'm looking for a great cardio sweat.  Beach Body also offers a business opportunity that you might find beneficial in the current economy.

Send in the St. Bernard . . .

I'm buried under an Obama avalanche.

I understand that everyone has high hopes and that he just took over and that we are in an economic crisis and that He is the second coming of Jesus Christ Himself.

I get all that.

But good gawd, does he have to be mentioned in every single article on every single topic?

I was reading an article about obesity and problems with health insurance.  The essential idea behind the article was that health insurance will pay for all the complications caused by obesity but they won't cover gastric bypass surgery, which might just save them money in the long run.

Then the article stated this little scenario is going to make it hard for our lord and savior Barack Obama to get universal health coverage instituted.

Really?  That's the difficulty? 

Not the fact that we are $2 trillion dollars in debt and don't have money to spend on health care, education, or bridges, let alone gastric bypass?  Not the fact that pharmacy and health insurance companies are the #1 and #2 lobbying organization in Congress so most laws that are passed favor the companies instead of the people?  Not the fact that we use cartoon characters and toys to entice kids to eat breakfast cereal made out of sugar and Happy Meals made out of who-knows-what?

The fact that insurance companies have policies in place that obviously don't favor their own bottom line is going to be the toughy for the new president?

Should the president even be involved in what procedures an insurance company covers?  Did they just throw in Obama's name so that every one with a google alert for Obama gets the article in their in-box?

It's not just that they throw His name into these articles but it's also the implication.  We The People are too stupid or too lazy or too weak to make any changes.  We voted in a Congress a couple of years ago to help us out and they were too stupid or too spineless or too bought out to make any changes.  All our hope lies with Obama.  Only He can save us.  Pray, in the name of Obama, that he is able to save us.

He's a great motivational speaker but he can't save us.  There are people out there that hope his words can inspire the people to take action.  I pray, in the name of Obama, that they are right. 

I think that people are so caught up in their little WalMart world that they won't be pulled out of their daze, even by someone with such obvious rah-rah superpowers.  They will place all their hope in the new Savior while they continue to watch Idol and eat Cheese Doodles on the couch.

Mrs. Chili is right in saying that our government is like an aircraft carrier.  Even if Obama was truly trying to help, he would have a hard time getting 500 corrupt representatives to get on board with his program.  If 500 people stuck in their ways is an aircraft carrier, what's the analogy for 300 million people?  A Death Star?

He'll continue with his rah-rah stuff and the media will continue to help him out as best they can with catchy headlines.  One that really caught my eye and gave me a glimmer of Hope and Change was the possible closing of Gitmo.  "Maybe he's for real," I thought, thinking I would have to take a new stance on this blog.  If you look into it though, you find out that it's most likely just a gesture and a headline.  So, I'm left right where I was before reading the headline. 

My fear with Obama isn't that He's going to keep going in the same direction as His predecessors.  To me, that's a given.  94% of the elections in this last cycle were won by the person that spent the most money.  Obama raised over $1 billion (plus what ever came in under the table).  Elections are bought and the people that buy them expect a little some-some in return.

My fear is that people will continue to hope that the new Messiah saves the world and that His words placate them enough that they don't take any action for themselves.  I would like to hope that his words would bring action and unity but quite frankly, the last thing that our government wants is for the people to become united and action oriented.  That would be absolutely frightening to them.  I expect Obama to say enough to keep the people from rioting in protest but not enough to turn off the TV and stand up.

In the meantime, I'm going to have to continue to read about the difficulties Obama faces in keeping Britney Spears from being a bad mom.

(And for Obama's sake Typepad, add His name to the dictionary or a "skip all" function in the spell checker!)

The Case of the Disappearing Tuesday

Don't ask me where it went.  All I know is that it's gone and I didn't complete anything that wasn't mandatory today.

I taught my morning class.  Great workout too.  My favorite workout for this month.  I'll tell you more in tomorrow's fitness update.

I went to a safety committee meeting for work.  I voted that next month the meeting be held on Wednesday so I wouldn't have to come in to work on my day off.  Enough people voted with me so it passed.

I went to City Council where I voted on a number of things, none of which is probably interesting to you in the least. 

Now, I'm going to vote to go to bed so I can start another day.

My college books arrived today.  A symbol of what's to come.  I'm going to be a busy guy for the next couple of years.  Like I wasn't busy before.  I may have to go back to not sleeping a whole lot.  I've been trying to get about 7 hours a night on the week nights and 5 hours on the weekends.  Something is going to have to give and it might be a little bit of sleep.

I'm going to be working on Plan B in the mean time.  What's Plan B?  I'm not telling you.  At least not yet.  Nyah, nyah, nyah.

Who Do Representatives Represent?

Here's a clue.  Last year, the following industries spent these amounts on lobbying:

Big Pharma - $171 million.

Insurance - $116 million.

Electric Companies - $114 million.

Oil and Gas - $94 million.

Is there any wonder why actual healthy information is suppressed?  If pharmacy companies can afford $171 million in bribes, how much profit are they making?  Billions?  I've read several accounts of the FDA allowing dangerous substances on the market because they were paid to do so while there is always talk about the battle to keep nutritional supplements allowed as over the counter. 

In the last 10 years, Big Pharma has spent $1.5 Billion dollars getting laws passed or changed so they can increase their profit margin.  Twice as much as oil companies for the same time period.  People complain about oil companies running the country but they should really be looking and Pfizer and Bristol-Myers and the Insurance companies.  These two companies have way more influence and their business is sick people, not healthy people. 

When it comes to your health, don't expect any help from Big Brother.  They have been bought and paid for by companies whose best interest is served by getting and keeping people sick.  Alive, but in need of drugs and health insurance.

***

You can visit my Beach Body site for more information on P90X or any of their other great products.  P90X gets results.  I can stand behind the program 100%.  I also enjoy Turbo Jam when I'm looking for a great cardio sweat.  Beach Body also offers a business opportunity that you might find beneficial in the current economy.

Week 2 Update

The scale, how she taunts me.  Up .8 pounds this week.  I really need to work on eating a bit less.  The exercise portion of my plan is maxed out.  Now I just need to eat a few less calories than I burn.

Thursday morning's class was Hamstrings and Triceps.  It was a great workout.  I'm loving the feeling of getting back into it.

Thursday afternoon, I was still on a "let's give the legs a bit of rest" kick so I did Turbo Jam's Cardio Party.  Much easier on the legs.  Next week I may give Plyo X and Interval X a try again.  Just playin' it by ear each day.  The afternoon workout is all about cardio so it's not like I need to do these workouts.  I like them though because they are so challenging.

Friday morning's class was Back and Abs.  I didn't feel anything out of Thursday's workout but on Saturday I was feeling the ab workout.  It's a great feeling to have them feel more taut.  Someday I might be able to see them.

Later Friday morning I went for a 6 mile run.  I didn't think I would be able to make 8 so I turned around 3 miles out.  I was right.  I wouldn't have been able to run 8.  I would have ended up walking quite a bit of it.  

Saturday morning was weightlifting.  We did a bunch of the bigger lifts.  Squats, deadlift, bench press, and barbell rows.  We threw in some biceps moves to for vanity's sake.  It was a good day.  We're going to train like this for the next couple of months, rotating the order of the exercises so we can put our best effort forth on different moves.

Today will be P90X X Stretch and rest.  Regroup for the next week and come up with a nutrition plan that will help me reach my goals.  A nutrition plan that doesn't rely on calorie counting.  I know it's not the best way but I detest counting my food so I'm going to find something that works for me.

***

You can visit my Beach Body site for more information on P90X or any of their other great products.  P90X gets results.  I can stand behind the program 100%.  I also enjoy Turbo Jam when I'm looking for a great cardio sweat.  Beach Body also offers a business opportunity that you might find beneficial in the current economy.

 

Speaking of Crazy

The Random Bits:

1. Saturday, I have absolute no time for blogging so this day will generally be a video/writing break day.

They're crazy, He's crazy, I'm crazy

First, the random bits:

1. The UPS girl is here with a box.  Anyone interested?

Okay, I admit this is getting to be like those scenes in Austin Powers where he says not-so-witty one-liners until his partner says "that's enough".

So, say good-bye to the UPS girl.

I tried to find some UPS guy pics but I couldn't find anything fitting for this blog so we'll be moving on to a new topic on Sunday.  I don't know what that is yet so feel free to comment your requests.

2. I'm trying to get into a rhythm for my blog posts centering mostly around fitness and health, with a post here and there about money and politics.  The pattern won't be set in stone because I don't roll that way.  Hence, you got a post about religion yesterday.  Friday's are tentatively slated as money days.

3. People who write the headlines for the stock market are crazy.

4. Just thought I would throw that bit in.

And now, the rest of the story.

Bank of America and Citi both lost billions of dollars but stocks are up because the two companies have a plan.  WTF?

Anyway, this post wasn't going to be about their craziness or Obama's plan of spending more while taxing less.  How do you bring in less money and spend more? 

I actually have my own craziness planned.  That plan was to get back into investing this week but that plan has been replaced by my crazy plan of taking 3 college courses this semester.  Plus we want to remodel our kitchen.

I'm looking for help from all of you.  Anyone know where the hybrid time/money tree is?  I need a little bit more of both.  Okay, a lot more of both.

I'm sure I'll expand on both topics in the future but since I haven't found  the time tree yet, I'm going to have end with this post being just a teaser.

The Messiah for the Age of Aquarius

First a couple of random bits:

1.  "Guys, grab your packages, the UPS girl is here.  Deliveries 'round back."  Mrs. Chili, your comment prompted me to post this.  You're welcome.

2.  I figured out what I'm going to do with my spare time. 

Done laughing?

I'm going back to college yet again.  Time to move ahead again.

Okay, the Messiah for the Age of Aquarius, the age we are currently in or entering. 

From Wikipedia:

"Aquarius traditionally "rules" electricity, computers, flight, democracy, freedom, humanitarianism, idealists, modernization, rebels and rebellion, mental diseases, nervous disorders, and astrology."

I said thatGoogle was the new Messiah, using the popular search engine as a symbol for the Internet.

Google themselves have said that they are creating the mind of god.  They are collecting everything that is known to humans and the collective conscious of everyone that posts stuff on the net. 

For me though, it goes beyond that, although they have a good point.  We are all connected and the Internet is a very tangible connection.  Religion and the various gods have been created to answer questions that were unknown.  What is the sun?  How does it move across the sky?  Where do rainbows come from?

Rainbows have been around for as long as there has been sunshine, rain, and a human eye at about 42 degrees from the refracted light.  It wasn't magically created after a flood by one of the gods.

My point is, a lot of the stuff that was unexplainable 2,000 years ago is very explainable today.  Want to know the answer?  Google it.

Child have a rash?  You could pray to one of the gods or you could pray to Google via the search box and try to find out what the rash is.  Email your doctor with questions (many doctors do that now.  Put out a general query via blog to the Universe and see if someone answers.

Where the gods' answers have been somewhat wishy-washy or difficult to decipher, Google's problem lies in the opposite direction.  There may be too many answers but there are definite answers.

Like any other religion, Googleism isn't without its flaws because the algorithms are still set by man to favor or disfavor some sites.  There is monitoring, filtering, deleting, and ranking going on all the time and being adjusted by those in power.  Still, I think this is a great step in the right direction.  Our knowledge is expanding so quickly that a god created today would last on the market about as long as the next iPhone.  The days of 2,000 years of one god dominating a culture are over.  We are learning so quickly that instead of attributing mysteries to some unseen god, we now look for the answers, and we find them.

We have entered an age where our collective soul is the god.  How we treat each other and how we live our lives will determine whether we live in Heaven or Hell.  It's kind of scary but it's also very empowering.  Instead of trying to guess how to please a vain and jealous god, we get to decide collectively whether we live in Heaven or Hell.

Time to put little wavy water symbols on the cars and stop letting mythical beings tell us who to hate next.  We are all connected and what we do to "them", we are doing to "us".