Eating Disorders

Inevitably the Active Survivalist will be accused of having an eating disorder. When it comes to reshaping the body and fighting off the effects of aging diet plays a large part. Too much food is deadly. Almost everyone eats too much and it's a wonder that people aren't even fatter than they already are. Fat deposits are building up around the vital organs of almost everyone and those deposits are solidifying and become harder to dislodge with every passing day. Food is everywhere, forcing the Active Survivalist to engage in a relentless battle against aging and decrepitude. Obsessive behaviour or tremendous discipline is required to prevail against food and those offering it. Obsessive behaviour does have its dangers and it is possible for people to go too far but one shouldn't worry about being accused of having anorexia. Indeed an accusation is a sign of success. Your appearance is now noticeably different. You are leaner than almost everyone else around you. And you know that you are on the right track because you are stronger than ever before and feeling better than ever before. Diet is used to fuel and build the body not to be social or alleviate emotional stress. The amount of food taken and the time it is taken should be carefully considered. It is always better to eat too little than to eat too much. Keep in mind that those who do have disorders eat practically nothing, which is entirely counter-productive for those who seek a longer healthier life.

The Ultimate Active Survivalist: The Cyberman

The previous post showed a natural human form however if we are to avoid complete bodily breakdown and death it will be inevitable that parts will need to be replaced. It is already happening now with replacement joints being quite common. Obviously it would be best to avoid getting replacement bits for as long as possible but when the time comes to do a bit of modification I say embrace it.

The Cybermen replaced almost all parts of their bodies except parts of their brain although some say that even this was totally replaced t00 - probably a good idea.

Here is a link to a website that has details on all the different Cybermen models and more.

Cybermen were constantly adjusting and improving their design. This is what makes them the ultimate Active Survivalists!

The Perfect Body

Michelangelo's statue of David depicts the perfect body shape. This is why it is so famous. All male Active Survivalists should aspire to acquiring a body similar to this. Actually if I look at myself in the mirror I think I am not too far off. Men do tend to see themselves as much better looking than they really are however - LOL. The next two years will be largely spent working on shaping my body. I wonder what percentage of body fat David would have? The torso looks lean but not over the top ripped.

Exercise and Longevity

Longevity is the principal goal of the active survivalist. There is a link between regular exercise and longevity along the lines of "if you don't use it you lose it". Muscular strength, coordination, balance and flexibility all decline with age until the unavoidable (so it seems) terminal conclusion. While this may be inevitable the process can be delayed. A new study confirms this:

The men ranged in age from 47 to 71 and had been referred to a VA medical facility for a clinically prescribed treadmill exercise test sometime between 1983 and 2006. All participants were asked to run until fatigued, at which point the researchers recorded the total amount of energy expended and oxygen consumed.

The numbers were then crunched into "metabolic equivalents," or METS. In turn, the researchers graded the fitness of each man according to his MET score, ranging from "low-fit" (below 5 METS) to "very-high fit" (above 10 METS).

By tracking fatalities through June 2007, Kokkinos and his colleagues found that for both black and white men it was their fitness level, rather than their age, blood pressure or body-mass index, that was most strongly linked to their future risk for death.

Every extra point in MET conferred a 14 percent reduction in the risk for death among black men, and a 12 percent reduction among whites. Among all participants, those categorized as "moderately fit" (5 to 7 METS) had about a 20 percent lower risk for death than "low-fit" men. "High-fit" men (7 to 10 METS) had a 50 percent lower risk, while the "very high fit" (10 METS or higher) cut their odds of an early death by 70 percent.

"The point is, it takes relatively little exercise to achieve the benefit we found," noted Kokkinos. "Approximately two to three hours per week of brisk walking per week. That's just 120 to 200 minutes per week. And this can be split up throughout the week, and throughout the day. So it's doable in the real world."

Link to the above: A little Regular Exercise Extends Men's Lives

The really interesting thing about this study which confirms the principle of active survivalism is that those who exercised the most survived the longest. Body fat wasn't a major factor although I suspect those that exercised the most had the lowest body fat.

One thing I have noticed, especially among people who are a generation older than me, is that they do almost no exercise. My parents generation invariably did little or no focussed exercise. That is exercise for exercise sake focussing on developing heart health, muscle strength and endurance and lung capacity. Some of them claimed they got all the exercise they needed doing the gardening or going on an occasional walk. This is not enough. Exercise should focus on developing the body and should be a little bit tough if not extremely taxing. Pain is necessary and desired. Aching joints and muscles are to be expected. The active survivalist will suffer a little more due to the nature of an aging body and recovery times will probably be longer than that of a young persons. This is to be expected and battled against.

Cycling

The bicycle makes a great piece of exercise equipment. It is probably the best alternative to running for sustained cardio exercise and also has some interval training qualities when traversing hilly territory. Too much running for the mature person will inevitably result in damaged knees and tendons. The bicycle provides virtually injury free cardio and also makes a great and cheap form of alternative transport. All active survivalists should have a bike.

The bike shown above is my wet weather night rider. It's kitted out with dual headlights, rear light, mud guards, road tyres, after market front suspension and a kick stand. It is an early Marin mountain bike that has few original components unchanged. It is setup for all riding conditions and is very rugged and reliable.

Should I Exercise Every Day or Every Alternate Day?


There isn't an easy answer to this question. It depends on what you want to achieve. If general fitness is desired then every second day could be beneficial as it allows 48 hours of recovery time between each session. If weight loss is the objective then a daily exercise regime that burns off 300 calories or so would be desirable. Perhaps if both weight loss and strength gain is desired then alternate days of cardio and weight training could do the trick.

As this blog targets the mature individual facing the imminent prospect of old age the answer to the question should be relevant to this group. I don't know the answer. I do think that every second day is likely to result in missed days that extend the period between workouts. Generally for those pursuing 'active survival' exercise should be obsessional as diet should be also. Exercise everyday and then some unless physical injury is being experienced.

Alcohol Consumption

It is pretty well established now that alcohol consumption is beneficial to physical and mental well-being. Numerous studies throughout the world have highlighted the benefits of a glass or two of wine a day. It also seems to not matter too much what sort of alcohol one dinks be it wine beer or even spirits. Societies who shun alcohol such as Moslem ones and Seventh Day Adventists give no inspiration to follow suit.

My take on this is that alcohol helps ease the mind and relaxes the body and if taken in moderation has no adverse health effects. In my own family I have noticed that the uncles and aunts who imbibe regularly and what has often been regarded as a little too much are still alive and kicking. My own parents are now both dead and probably could have benefited from a little more drinking. It seems to take a quite a lot of alcohol taken over a long period of time to seriously damage ones internal organs. It takes less alcohol to temporarily damage ones coordination and decision making – something to be kept in mind if important things need to be done like driving a car or signing important documents for instance. It reduces sharpness of mind and body and often it may be better to drink a couple of cups of coffee at night time if work needs to be done.

That said it is really up to the individual to decide what is good for them. Some people should perhaps never drink anything – especially those people who lose all control once started or simply cannot handle it.

In general the mature individual interested in active survival should drink in moderation. Red wine preferably as this goes well with food and doesn’t seem to be in the least bit fattening.

My rules would be drink no more than two glasses or half a bottle of red wine a day. Drink with food if possible or if taken late at night, once all chores are done, drink a glass of water with each glass of wine. The reason for this is that alcohol is a bit harsh on the stomach. Have an alcohol free day twice a week or maybe even for a whole week occasionally. My reason for this last rule is that quite often it is hard to stick to the two glass limit and drinking everyday for me seems to reduce my feeling of wellness. When I awake the next day from an alcohol-free day I always feel a lot better. A long period of no drinking only seems to be beneficial for a week or so and then adverse psychological effects weigh in. It’s nice to have a glass of wine to look forward to and there is absolutely no reason to deny oneself this pleasure for too long.

This image is Ouroboros the serpent that forever consumes itself and a symbol of "Eternal Recurrence". I am one of the few people who take this theory seriously as did Nietzsche. We are doomed or blessed, depending on your viewpoint, to live this same life again and again for eternity. As a code for living it has the advantage of making you think about the things you do and encourages you to enjoy every minute of life as it will be better to have more enjoyable moments than miserable ones if you have to relive them for eternity.

There appears to be two ideas on how to deal with the aftermath of 911. One that it is a law enforcement issue dealing with a band of criminals. The other that it is a war against a virtual state headed by OBL.

Law enforcement deals with piecing together the evidence and bringing the criminals to justice. Warfare deals with eliminating the immediate threat and deterring future threats. The main problem with the law enforcement idea is that Western justice has very little deterrence value and notions of justice prevent you from attacking targets that are not directly related to the crime.

The advantage of the warfare model is that action can be taken that is possibly illegal yet has great strategic worth. Thus an unrelated country could be invaded if it had strategic value in the war. War has little to do with law but should have everything to do with an effective strategy.

Bush no doubt had a strategy planned long before 911 as 911 was simply the largest attack in a long string of attacks. There is no reason to believe that the attacks will abate therefore war is inevitable. Saddam can consider himself to be collateral damage in the GWOT. Could not have happened to a nicer bloke.

Saddam wasn't a threat? But he was certainly a nuisance there is no denying it. He did invade Kuwait remember? He didn't keep the promises he made after Gulf War 1 and he repeatedly massed his army on the border forcing the US into costly troop moving exercises. And the no-fly-zone thing was becoming tiresome.

Also Saudi Arabia was becoming a liability. It is after all the location of Islam’s holiest places and, hey, we respect that now. So a move into Iraq, setting up fortresses there was a good idea. Many birds were killed with this one stone. I counted at least twenty good reasons to invade Iraq. One of them was that you cannot insult the US and expect to live in peace - we have a reputation to keep.

All you mocking, lefty leaning, bleaters have got to get in your thick skulls the fact that there exists an Anglo-American Empire. It doesn't care a wit for your hand wringing protest marches and numbskull loony ideas of moral equivalence. It cares about wealth and security. It doesn't work at the intellectual level of a Marxist college professor but is altogether more primal.

Most of these "protestors" just do it because they like playing the part of protestor. Deep down they don’t care about third world poverty or justice. They don’t donate significant money to charitable causes or do anything practical. They depart the protest marches in their gas guzzling CSV's. They hate America because they have weird notions about all the ills of the third world and Latin America being caused by the Yankees. There are some genuine types who believe all war is bad and cruel and ugly and they are probably right in theory yet utterly impractical. The reality is that the West controls vast amounts of wealth and territory and this needs to be actively protected.


Non-democratic regimes are illegitimate if they exit for too long. There should be some international law that states that there must be elections after the rulers are in power for a certain period of time. Sometimes martial law is necessary for a time but all governments should work toward fair elections.

A thug like Saddam taking control by force and ruling for decades is not legitimate. It makes me laugh when they talk of Iraq as being a sovereign state as if Saddam was installed by a Deity.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban" was summarily executed at dawn today on the South Lawn of the White House.
Lindh, who reportedly offered to plead guilty in exchange for leniency, was not granted a final meal nor a chance to speak with his bereaved parents before facing the firing squad. He was offered a cigarette, but being a devote Muslim, he refused it. He was shot an estimated 51 times, and then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tied his body to the back of a Humvee and dragged it around the National Mall for a couple of hours.
"Today is a good day for freedom," said newly appointed President-For-Life George W. Bush, after personally firing the first shot. His shot was followed by rounds from the guns of Attorney General John Ashcroft and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle was not invited to the execution. It is rumored he will face his own firing squad tomorrow, as will Noam Chamosky, Ramsey Clark, Angela Davis, Stanley Fish, Tom Hayden, Norman Mailer, Ralph Nader, Edward Said, Susan Sontag and Howard Zinn, along with the entire cast of Warblogger Watch.
Just before the execution, Bush signed the executive order making him, in effect, America's new dictator. The order disbanded Congress and the Supreme Court, suspended press freedoms, made Fundamentalist Christianity the official religion of the new Federal Christian Republican of America, and in a sop to his father, outlawed broccoli.
"This is the final, logical conclusion to the slippery slope I initiated on Sept. 11," Bush told his press aides, who immediately rushed his pearly words of wisdom to the news wires. "I have achieved the goals I set out to do."

September 11 and the emergence of the Anglosphere.

It wasn't a sudden awakening this realization that the English speaking nations had more than just a special relationship. Indeed it has emerged slowly after much argument, disagreement and strife. The 9/11 atrocity brought about a coalition of many more nations than just the Anglophone ones. The western world and others were generally supportive of the war against terrorism and rallied behind America. How could it be otherwise unless you were already a pariah state Even those states on the fringes of civilized behavior such as Libya and Iran expressed support for the war.

Yet supporting the war against terror is quite different to actually prosecuting the war and when specific countries were identified as terrorist training centers true colors began to unfurl. Afghanistan was the first test and some nations did show themselves as willing to actually kill (let¡¯s be blunt) the enemy.

However it was the reality of actual combat in Afghanistan that awoke the Left. Grumbling was heard amongst the usual suspects about American imperialism. The Islamic states questioned aloud whether this was a war against Islam rather than terrorism. The odd man on the street in places like Finland thought it wrong that a great power such as the USA should attack an impoverished one like Afghanistan - as if wars should somehow be fair. For a fair war think WW1 and recall what happens when both sides are near even. Some people felt that the root cause of terrorism should be addressed and that it was really all the fault of the Western imperialists ¨C we brought it upon ourselves. As if the perpetrators of September 11 were somehow able to be reasoned with. Some thought that it would be a good idea if peace delegations were formed and despatched to reason with the Taliban and placate al Qaeda.

However most of the world supported the war against Afghanistan in 2001 yet few were willing to commit combat forces to assist the Americans. Those that were notable for doing so were the British, Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders. Germans, French and others were there but not in any especially notable way except that the French aircraft carrier would take a year to get there. The Russians turned up after the fall of Kabul although they had provided great assistance to the Northern Alliance in the way of weapons. Of all the nations that actually did the fighting in Afghanistan it is quite remarkable how many were English speaking.

Musings on the Anglosphere and its rise to dominance in the world.