CT Fletcher is popular on YouTube among people who lift weights, but his motivational videos are sage advice outside the realm of power lifting. He’s amazing, and if I lived in his neck of the woods I’d buy a membership to his gym immediately. His video ‘Advice for Powerlifters and Heavy Weightlifting’ is an instant […]
Rock climbing as a metaphor for life: Conservatism vs. Liberalism
April 13, 2013 By 4 Comments
Today I ran across an old picture of me ascending a rock climbing wall while at the Cumberland County fair in Maine. For some odd reason it dawned on me that rock climbing is a great metaphor for life. Before this picture was taken I had been working a booth for The Heritage Foundation, talking […]
Rest in peace, Joe Weider: From a kid who learned 1,000 life lessons from your work
March 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Joe Weider passed away on Saturday, March 23 at 93. For those who don’t know him, The New York Times provided a good write up: Joe Weider, a scrawny youngster who sculptured himself with bodybuilding during the Great Depression and created an empire of muscle magazines, fitness equipment, dietary supplements and Olympic-style contests featuring Arnold […]
‘Pumping Iron’ inspires, decades after its release
March 4, 2013 By 2 Comments
‘Pumping Iron’ came out in 1977, at a time when body building was still genuinely considered freakish. The world had not yet been sufficiently introduced to Arnold Schwarzenegger, and by extension the kind of action star that he would help popularize during the 80′s and 90′s. But perhaps more importantly, ‘Pumping Iron’ continues to inspire […]
Chris Christie: Hack attacks Dr. Mariano, creates first 2016 ‘war on women’ ad in process
February 9, 2013 By 2 Comments
Dr. Connie Mariano was the doctor to President George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. She’s an accomplished woman. She recently expressed concerned about N.J. Gov. Chris Christie’s weight, particularly if he were to one day become the president of the United States. Christie’s response? He created the first “war one women” ad, […]
CT Fletcher inspires — ‘Let’s get it done’
February 4, 2013 By 3 Comments
From time to time this blog veers a bit off course from its normal politics and pop culture fare to cover health and fitness. I wrote on Schwarzenegger’s “Six Rules for Success. I discussed running and the importance of being humbled. And now, I get to bring to you a short video on CT Fletcher, […]
The New Year’s resolution: Self-improvement’s kiss of death
January 3, 2013 By 7 Comments
Years ago I had the pleasure of managing a gym, and the start of the new year brought in a wave of people into the facility, which predictably receded well before Spring. It seems as though New Year’s resolutions are the kiss of death for most individuals’ efforts at self-improvement. The problem with most plans […]
Military obesity isn’t the issue: Civilian fat bodies are
December 11, 2012 By 13 Comments
Over the past few years there has been increasing coverage of the growing waistlines of our nation’s military. It’s generally a dumb story. The people charged with fixing the problem know exactly what’s going on: Nobody does physical fitness like the infantry. Period. If you want less overweight soldiers, tell the POGS to look at […]
Google images uses your blog to create a psychological profile
November 3, 2012 By 6 Comments
Why does the writer write? That’s the age old question, isn’t it? Philosopher Eric Hoffer said we never run fastest and farthest than when we run from ourselves, and so for me I suppose the answer mostly has to do with trying to put forth the most honest portrayal of who I am into words […]
Hungry high school kids learn early: Big government needs a diet
September 25, 2012 By 5 Comments
It turns out that there are a lot of high school kids who aren’t happy with how the new USDA guidelines are impacting the way they eat at school. Shockingly, when the government got more involved in their school programs the main thing it accomplished was a higher price for everyone involved and a product […]
