We're putting the band back together

I've been inconsistent in the past 18 months about my hobby of picking up heavy things and putting them down, but the last 2 months have been relatively consistent and I'm probably about 50# at most off of my top lifts in all categories for an easy total of 500kg. 200-100-200, plus or minus some change. I'm getting strength back right quick, so maybe, just maybe, I could consider making a 500# squat a goal for the end of the year. I'm going back to grad school, the gym the powerlifters use is right near the stats building, and I won't have much else to do besides stats and squats, so call me maybe? It's too early to call it a goal, though. It's more a vague idea of a possibility.

The only thing I have to say about that is that my bench is embarrassing and I have no prospect of making it reasonable.

Question on money-making

If I had a lot of money, how would I make giant sacks of cash by betting on the following two outcomes?

1. Public pensions (eg, IL state government pensions) are going to explode because of unrealistic assumptions and chronic underfunding even if the unrealistic assumptions were correct.
2. We're going to screw the pooch on global warming. If and when we do act, it will be so late that the price for a ton of carbon will be exorbitant.

There are other similar problems. But, really, who can get (viz) 8% on billions of dollars of investments these days? Nobody, so these state pension funds are going to get crucified. Who can convince any government of the necessity of uncomfortable action now to prevent bad stuff from happening thirty years from now? Nobody, that's why there will be no arctic polar ice at some point in a summer before 2020.

There has to be some way to make money off of these known future failures. It's like having a 2020 Almanac. A very depressing 2020 Almanac.

So, in short, how can I bet against rational long term thinking?

The assault on Ockham's Razor

Yes, even Ockham's Razor is suspect now because some priest suggested its use in the Metropolitan Jonah scandal, saying that it seemed simpler that the story the bishops unanimously agreed on and wrote up in their letter was substantially true than that there is, for instance, a lavender mafia directing the actions of the Synod against Metropolitan Jonah because he dares to speak up about Conservative Morality.

The opponents of its use point out two things:

1. Ockham was a Latin Nominalist, two things which are Anathema to right-believing and God-fearing Orthodox Christians.
2. Ockham's Razor is often used by atheists to "disprove" the existence of God.

There you have it, ladies and gentleman.

For more on Ockham's Razor, see Larry Wasserman.

Edited to add link to post referred to. Also, note that what I said was mildly inaccurate in that the post linked came before the Synod's letter. Read it for yourself if you're interested in the argument.

This turned out worse than I expected.

I thought it might be something like this, but it was worse than I thought it would be. Lord have mercy on them all! Especially the victims.

More: CrossFit makes fun of the mentally ill, the homeless, the desperate, and the destitute

Don't click on these links if you get angry easily about mistreatment of the less fortunate in society. CrossFit makes fun of the mentally ill, the homeless, the desperate, and the destitute.

As the headline says, "Downtown L.A. CrossFit Gym Debases Homeless Neighbors in Photos, Facebook Posts". It is exactly what it sounds like. However, no laws were broken, so, like, whatevs. Also puzzling is how the head of CrossFit, Inc's legal department, Dale Saran, apparently didn't care when informed about this CrossFit franchise's anti-human behavior.

CrossFit's legal counsel, Dale Saran, told the Weekly: "You framed this as if CrossFit is somehow responsible for what Ronnie Teasdale or anyone in those pictures is alleged to have done. If a United Airlines pilot goes off and does something wrong, it's on him -- not all of United Airlines ... unless what he did is the direct result of a UA policy or procedure. "I don't suppose that you're claiming that CrossFit has a policy or predilection against the homeless -- no responsible journalist or person could -- and so I don't expect an article that reflects that." Saran says CrossFit is not responsible for policing its affiliates... .

Keep it classy, Dale.

Memory eternal!

This happened a while ago, but I did not have an article to link to until today. I never played him, but, IIRC, he beat our top board when we last played his team in the CICL. Truly an American icon.