and they call Trump a racist

"People are waking up."

Star Wars uses pronouns now

If you hadn't soured on Star Wars up to now, this ought to be the final straw:

If you think the right is too obsessed with the left's misuse of language, you're missing the point. What the left is doing is shoehorning in an agenda, and subverting language is merely one plank in the left's massive platform.

salvaging the bad "carnivore" bread

French toast! If the problem with the "carnivore" loaf I'd made was that it had a bad texture and was too dry, then why not rescue it by using it in a preparation that would fundamentally alter that texture?

I made a rough custard with Bocha Sweet sweetener, cinnamon, a pinch of salt, heavy cream, and eggs.

I cut the bread into thick slabs.

It was then necessary to soak the bread in the custard

Time to make French toast—what the French call pain perdu (lost bread).

More toasties toasting.

The final product, but without maple syrup, which got added later.

I tried making keto maple syrup with maple extract, confectioner's erythritol, and water, but it didn't come out as well as last time, so I threw it out and used the remainder of my real maple syrup... which of course defeated the purpose of eating "carnivore" French toast.

Still, the inedible bread became edible. Not great, but edible.

a few from Tulsi

Why Tulsi left the Democrats:

TikTok banned a bideo in support of real women in sports:

Just who are those MAGA Republicans?

Why do people hate Donald Trump?

keto-ish burgers

Undeterred by my previous Chris Cooking Nashville failure, I used another of Chris's recipes to make his "carnivore" hamburger buns. This recipe (page 2 at the link) didn't call for heavy cream this time, and I added a Korean-brand artificial sugar to the batter (if batter is the right term; the recipe reminds me a bit of a soufflé). The recipe called for 227 g of cream cheese; I had a 200-g container of it, plus a bag of dry, crumbly cottage cheese, so I added the cottage cheese to make up the difference.

I think I did everything almost right this time, and I'm pretty sure the added sweetener helped to make the buns more tolerable. Something went wrong, though, when I finished baking the buns and let them cool inside the oven per the instructions: they all collapsed—again, a lot like a mishandled soufflé. See the result for yourself:

Oh, what a world... what a world...

I swear, they'd looked good while baking—nice and puffy.

makes me think of a Scotch pie

The crumb was dense and underbaked. If I do this again, I'll give the bake another five minutes.

It's hard to see, but in the crumb, there are flecks of white—maybe egg white, maybe unmixed cheese.

For this plate, there were two burgers. Here's one completed and one topless, with BBQ sauce and shredduce.

Barbecue sauce was the one non-keto element with this burger. The sesame seeds lend the burger buns more authenticity than they deserve, being collapsed and all.

prepped and ready for eating

not much left

Surprise, surprise—these burgers were actually good! The taste of the buns was unobtrusive, and they were sufficiently breadlike as to be almost unnoticeable. Taken by themselves and on their own terms, the buns were somewhat the wrong consistency, but they were appropriately soft and had almost a fast-food kind of feel to them. They weren't quite breadlike enough for my taste, but they were perfectly tolerable, and I'll definitely be making them again. I might have to find a different way to let the buns cool down, though, so as to prevent that soufflé-style collapse. (Or was it the artificial sweetener that caused the collapse? Uh-oh.)

These buns were an improvement over yesterday's spongelike-but-dry bread. I'll see about making that bread into keto French toast as a way to rescue it. My Korean coworker, despite my warnings, avidly grabbed almost half of that loaf, and he ended up throwing most of it out. He'd been charmed by how the bread looked, but I warned him that the most important thing was how the bread tasted. He fucked around and found out. Should've eaten a sample first.

The recipe I used was enough to make four burger buns, and the meat patties, originally 100 g each and made from twice-ground skirt steak, had been pressed flat enough to extend outside the buns: a must when making burgers. (A burger patty too small for its bun is a cardinal sin. The meat must always win.) I'll keep working on the process of making these buns and, we can hope, I'll have something respectable to present to you later this year.

Suffice it to say that this recipe made me a believer.

Chris's recipe video is here. That thumbnail, though, is pure bullshit. You can't see the thumbnail if you use my link to click through, but if you approach the video via YouTube (search "Chris Cooking Nashville burger buns"), you'll see it, and you'll immediately recognize that that's a Photoshop job using a real hamburger bun. Sneaky, sneaky.

ADDENDUM:

The Korean sweetener I used is some sort of "slow-absorption" formula.

Styx on Trump and abortion

Styx even points out one legitimate falsehood (not a lie) from the debate, uttered by Trump.

scenes from last night's walk

Last night's walk (still angina-free!) was revealing. I hadn't been by the Tan Creek for a while, and what I discovered was that most of the construction-related crap that had been piled up all over the below-the-bridge parking lots has now been quietly taken away. At first, I was mentally going Hooray!, but then it occurred to me that this is probably only temporary, for two reasons: (1) the ramp they're building alongside the creek is far from complete, so they need their building materials back, and more importantly, (2) the stuff probably got moved away because we're now in the jangma (monsoon) season. The Tan Creek is prone to flooding. It's been raining all today, and it'll be raining through a good part of tomorrow. I guess this past Saturday's long rain probably counts as the start of the jangma; June 29 is practically July, and the monsoon normally starts in July. Mother Nature is right on schedule.

The pics below might not have much meaning to you, but they have great meaning to me for what they don't show: piles of dirt, stacked concrete sewer pipes, metal beams, rebar and more rebar, and all the other bits and bobs needed for building an off-ramp. Enjoy the emptiness. For me, this means I can get back to walking through those under-the-bridge parking lots again instead of being confined to that one narrow path that goes right along the creek.

To me, this looks pretty bare and stark compared to, oh, a week ago.

Imagine piles and piles of stuff here (looking "back" Han-ward, creek right). This was unwalkable not long ago.

Looking "forward" as I walk back to my place, creek on the left. All eerily empty.

I'm betting the crap will return after the monsoon season is safely over—say, September.

the warning

The apartment's finally had it with those of us tenants who store some of our stuff outside our actual apartments. For me, the shelf-like space across the hall from my apartment's front door was just too tempting of a spot to leave my bike, and before I ever put it there, I looked around to see whether any other residents had had the same idea. Many had.

But those days are now over.

I just got a warning that, for safety's sake, items in certain spaces will need to be moved by July 7, or else they'll be disposed of. My boss joked that I should take my bike back inside, then put it out again in a few days. The one thing I'm trying to avoid is storing the bike outside in the weather. Since I live in a studio, though, taking the bike back inside is going to make my tiny space even more cramped. But I guess I have no choice. Maybe I can sell the bike off for cheap, and I can throw in a Presta-valve bike pump for free.

I think the bike is sitting on an A/C-compressor housing.
Cardboard on the left is my neighbor's shit. Styrofoam on the right is mine.

another way in which I'm inadvertently killing myself

Headline (paywall):

Large Study Links Daily Multivitamin Use to Increased Mortality Risk

While nearly one in three Americans take a daily multi-vitamin, a new study challenges the belief that they improve health or promote longevity.

A comprehensive study of healthy U.S. adults has revealed that daily multivitamin use does not promote a longer life and is linked to a 4 percent higher risk of mortality.

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute conducted the study, published on June 26 in JAMA Network Open. The study challenges the common perception that multivitamins improve health and longevity. The findings come as nearly one in three U.S. adults regularly takes multivitamins, often expecting to prevent chronic diseases and extend life.

Led by Dr. Erikka Loftfield, the study sheds light on the effects of multivitamin (MV) use on longevity and questions the benefits of these popular supplements. Drawing data from three extensive cohort studies, the research followed 390,124 adults across the United States for up to 27 years, making it one of the most comprehensive analyses of its kind.

Participants, all without a history of cancer or chronic diseases, were part of the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial, and the Agricultural Health Study. They reported their multivitamin use at the study’s start and during follow-up intervals.

The data did not support a mortality benefit for multivitamin users. Instead, the results indicated a slight increase in mortality risk. The study states, “Daily MV use was associated with a 4% higher mortality risk” compared to non-users. This increased risk, though small, suggests multivitamins may not provide the expected health benefits.

The researchers accounted for other health habits such as diet, exercise, and smoking. They found that multivitamin users were generally more health conscious, often eating healthier and exercising more. However, this “healthy user effect” did not translate into a longer lifespan.

The study’s extended follow-up period allowed for a robust analysis of long-term multivitamin use. Over the study period, 164,762 participants died, providing a substantial dataset to evaluate mortality trends. The consistency of the findings across different cohorts and follow-up periods strengthened the conclusion that MV use does not significantly impact mortality rates.

The study linking daily multivitamin use to increased mortality risk has sparked discussion among experts. Several potential reasons could explain the results, reflecting both the complexity of nutritional science and the study’s limitations.

Nutritional Imbalances Related to Multivitamin UseIndividuals who take multivitamins may be getting the wrong balance of nutrients. Dr. Michael Bauerschmidt, founder of Deeper Healing Medical Wellness, offers a nuanced perspective.

“What determines the need for any given supplement? Or asked another way, what is the most important supplement you need to take? The answer is it’s the one that you have the least of,” Dr. Bauerschmidt told The Epoch Times.

He emphasized that individual nutritional needs can vary greatly and change over time, which the study did not account for. This variability means that the weakest nutritional link in one person might not be the same in another, and it can shift based on various factors.

“We have no idea what the baseline nutritional status was of any of the folks in the study or if they even needed a multivitamin to begin with,” Dr. Bauerschmidt said. This omission is significant because without knowing the initial nutritional deficiencies, it is challenging to determine the true impact of multivitamin use, he said.

Another concern is the imbalance of minerals in many multivitamins. Robert Love, a neuroscientist, noted in a video, “Multivitamins are deficient in some minerals that most of us are lacking—specifically magnesium and zinc.” He noted that 40 to 70 percent of Americans are deficient in magnesium and many multivitamins also lack adequate zinc, crucial for brain health and immunity.

Conversely, multivitamins often contain excessive amounts of minerals such as copper and iron. Mr. Love said that too much copper can cause oxidative stress and brain damage, especially if it is not balanced with zinc.

Similarly, high iron levels, which most Americans do not need, can contribute to oxidative damage and accelerate aging. This imbalance may negate potential benefits and be harmful long term. Renowned scientist David Sinclair, a tenured professor at Harvard Medical School, avoids multivitamins due to concerns about excessive iron intake.

Read the rest. In truth, this doesn't sound like an urgent problem, but I've come to suspect that the supplements I take don't really do much for me. Along with my meds, I take Kirkland generic multivitamins (Costco), Vitamin D (2000 IU, purchased at a pharmacy), Omega-3 (iHerb), magnesium (iHerb), berberine (iHerb)... and along with these, a bunch of psyllium-fiber capsules (iHerb). The recommended dosage of the fiber is 5 tablets, but thanks to my constant diarrhea, I've gone from 10 tablets (my normal amount) to 15. It doesn't seem to be helping: I sound like a dying, water-logged bagpipe every morning. I take my meds, supplements, and fiber at night, all at the same time. But maybe the multivitamins need to go. I'm pretty sure the berberine needs to go; it's billed as a fat-burner, among other things (it's also supposed to help with blood pressure, but I'm not noticing any differences on that score), but it's burned no fat. I could probably save a good bit of money and time by stripping out most of my supplements. And as a side note, if I get my meds reduced (again), I might be able to quell the diarrhea problem. Come to think of it, I've been mindlessly taking supplements for years, but I don't think they've radically changed my life. Supplements might have real effects on starving people from very poor countries—people who are on the brink of death. A well-fed bovine like me, though, probably doesn't need much or anything in the way of supplements. So: killing myself or not, it might be time to strip away a lot of those pills. All the same, a supposed 4% higher mortality risk doesn't sound like much to worry about.

the other side's opinion

Personally, I find a lot of what this guy says to be delusional crap that comes from being utterly (and maybe willingly) misinformed, but I thought it might be good to present a very dissenting opinion about Donald Trump from, of all people, a military veteran.

You can't talk to people who are this deep into their Trump derangement. I, at least, am willing to acknowledge that Trump is unsavory on a personal level, that he's had a bad history with women ranging from trophy wives to porn stars, that he's often unwilling to admit error, and that he's made certain policy mistakes (Warp Speeding the vaccine, bombing Syria, and now Bitcoin). In the meantime, Trump's enemies, like the guy above, listen to the twisted rumors coming out of the mainstream media and treat them as fact—that Trump called veterans "suckers and losers," that he said there were "very fine people on both sides" during the Charlottesville riots, etc. All lies, as fake as the Clinton-fueled Steele dossier that undergirded the left's whole "Russia collusion" hoax. There are plenty of bad things to be said about Donald Trump, all rooted in reality. There's no need to turn to fantasy, as this veteran has obviously done. I'm disappointed to read the comments below the above video and realize just how many woke veterans are out there. Get your heads out of your asses, guys.

this happened while I slept: partial victory for Trump

Headline:

Supreme Court rules 6-3 that presidents have "absolute immunity" for official acts within constitutional authority

What we've got here is a 6-3 Trump victory in his immunity case, dealing a death blow to Jack Smith's New York case against the former president.

John Roberts wrote the opinion.

We conclude that under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power requires that a former President have some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts during his tenure in office. At least with respect to the President's exercise of his core constitutional powers, this immunity must be absolute. As for his remaining official actions, he is also entitled to immunity. At the current stage of proceedings in this case, however, we need not and do not decide whether that immunity must be absolute, or instead whether a presumptive immunity is sufficient ...

The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official. The President is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalize the President's conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution. And the system of separated powers designed by the Framers has always demanded an energetic, independent Executive. The President therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party.

This doesn't mean the Left can't go after Trump in those gray areas between official and unofficial actions. But it certainly does help Trump's legal woes.

It's not quite what Trump wanted, but if it complicates Jack Smith's day, well, good. I expect Styx to analyze this decision so I won't have to. Because I'm lazy like that.

Democrats, meanwhile, are having a conniption.

Nick Freitas on Gavin Newsom

Choose wisely, Democrats, if you're serious about replacing old Joe, because that slick-haired idiot currently governing California into the ground has problems.

today's numbers

Yesterday was a fasting day, and I walked last night. (Interesting photos from the walk are coming.) Today, I have numbers. Some are disappointing; some signify good news.

blood sugar: 92 (yay for anything under 100!)
blood pressure: 127/80 (slightly high because my machine thinks 120/80 is high)
weight: 115.5 kg (weight just not coming down)
pulse-ox: 97%
pulse: 64 (good)
estimated A1c since 4/15: 6.98 (biggest news of the morning!)

So, yes: I'm down into the sixes with my A1c. So that's one floor broken through. Slay the fatted calf! And this time, the 6.98 really means something because your A1c is a three-month average, and I've been checking my blood sugar almost daily for nearly three months (started on 4/15). When I go to the hospital next week, I'm hoping that their A1c reading is similar, i.e., roughly the low 7s or the high 6es.

Weight has been the real disappointment, but that's partly because I haven't been nearly as serious as I could've been this whole time about cutting calories. BP remains a puzzle: the BP meds that I'm on are pretty strong compared to the meds I had three years ago, so why am I so often not below 120/80? Or is my BP machine influencing my thinking? I think it's a little unfair that it puts the classic 120/80 in the yellow zone: 120/80 is considered classic human BP. Is it set to some weird Korean standard? But it is what it is, and I've been consistently slightly over that score for several weeks, with occasional dips below it and occasional radical spikes above it. I don't expect BP to really go down until I get back to doing stairs work,* but I admit I'm a little afraid to start—even more so now that I've been angina-free ever since I took that one nitroglycerin pill (again, no pain during last night's walk). I keep thinking the angina will come back once my heart really gets to pumping.

In other news: this year's walk along the Nakdong River Gukto Jongju will be about a week shorter than the usual Four Rivers walk, so I'm seriously considering not doing meds at all for that brief span of time. As long as I behave myself when eating, my numbers shouldn't creep up too high. And no meds will mean no diarrhea to worry about. The last thing I need is to soil my undies while I'm out in the middle of nowhere.

To sum up: I'm mostly happy about my fasting blood sugar, my pulse-ox, my pulse, and my A1c. Weight and blood pressure (which are at least somewhat linked) still need a lot of work. When the weight comes down, the BP—in theory, at least—ought to follow. We'll see. The cool thing about being a grownup is that I don't have a particular due date for reaching my goal. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how lazy I am, but for the moment, it's a good thing because I don't feel an inordinate amount of pressure. (But maybe I should. My inner David Goggins, trapped in my fleshy frame, screams that I need to want it.)

__________

*I also need to ramp up the intensity of my other exercises in general. I've done some very light kettlebell and heavy-club work just to get used to the equipment, but that hasn't expanded into anything serious yet. It will, though. Oh, yes, Precious: it will!

more post-debate commentary

"I owe CNN an apology":

A lot of conservatives expressed surprise at how low-key CNN was during the first presidential debate. There was no interruptive fact-checking, and the overall tenor seemed almost disturbingly fair and balanced. As a result, people on the left have been raging against the moderators for being fair. Conservatives, meanwhile, have long contended that a fair and unbiased portrayal of the right would lead most objective people to conclude that the right is the saner option. But you normally can't expect such objectivity. While I suppose I can give CNN some credit, I think the real truth is that (1) Biden's decline has been hidden from the left-leaning public, and (2) that decline has now reached a point where it's impossible to hide.

Vince Dao on Cenk Uygur's debate-related tirade (the abortion issue is addressed here):

And the latest news is that Joe Biden is still running and will debate again in September.

Dave Portnoy, the pizza guy, with his hilarious take on the debate:

I don't think Portnoy's right, though, that Biden will allow himself to be replaced.

Post-debate poll surge for Trump... maybe the debate did move the needle a bit:

National Review: Biden cannot remain the nominee:

But until Biden himself consents to step down, nothing will change. Joe Biden is a conservative when it comes to himself.

Could Trump be pushing ahead in blue states?

"Clearly not OK":

oof

From last year—Trump vs. Biden: who's gonna win?

Comedian Tyler Fischer tells it like it is.

Elon vs. De Niro and De Niro's TDS

Reform is racist!

If you get your news from dubious sources, then the strategy is working. The mysterious "they" want you believing dubious sources. Or as we say in the States, If you hear the dog whistle, then you're the dog.

Here's Paul Joseph Watson addressing some of the fake claims of Reform's racism:

Somewhat related—Konstantin Kisin re: "How to stop the 'far right'":

I had a good chuckle at this

Sure, it's another case of both-sides-ism, but it was funny:

Milei, and Argentina's slow-but-steady rehabilitation

Headline:

Javier Milei Leads Argentina to a Week With No Food Inflation for First Time in 30 Years
It takes time. Normal people know transformation doesn’t happen overnight.

Long live f*&%ing freedom!! That’s what Argentine President Javier Milei loves to say!

For 30 years, Argentines faced rising food prices every week.

Every week for 30 years.

Well, the libertarian free-market economist President Javier Milei has steered Argentina in the correct direction because, for the first time in 30 years, the country did not experience food inflation.

You mean to tell me that when the government goes away[,] the market finds a way to balance itself?

As a libertarian, I AM SHOOK.

Zero inflation last week.

Inflation 0.1% the last fortnight.

Argentine inflation as a whole has gone down this year from 292% to 276% in May.

It doesn’t seem like a lot[,] and the number is still high, but normal people know transformations don’t happen overnight.

However, the monthly inflation rate went down 4.2% from 8.8% in April.

What was it in December when Milei took office? 25%:

Thursday’s inflation data is likely to fuel bets that Argentina’s central bank will continue cutting the country’s benchmark interest rate. The monetary authority has brought the rate down from 133% in December to the still steep rate of 40%. Argentina’s government has touted its success taming inflation with tough measures to reduce central bank money printing, focus on rebuilding reserves and cut spending. Markets cheered Thursday after the Senate passed a sprawling reform package overnight that is key to President Milei’s economic agenda, with Argentina’s bonds and beleaguered currency rallying.

Milei is obviously on the correct path. He is also the first Argentine president not to pass a new law in his first six months in office.

toxic fandom, Disney, and "The Acolyte": some perspectives

Paul Chato on the accusations of bigotry leveled against Critical Drinker and Nerdrotic:

Snarky Jay (try not to stare) on so-called "toxic fandom" in general:

dat's about right

Even in a short meme like this, they still manage to insert a comma splice.

Nerdrotic on the end of "woke Hollywood"

The end of wokeness in Hollywood?

I'm not so hopeful. A lot of swamp creatures in Hollywood seem perfectly happy to fart out their woke virtue-signaling even if it means not making any money on flop after flop. These fuckers have money to burn, and they're dead set against learning any lessons from their losses. And finally, as the Joker said: everything burns.

"carnivore" bread, first attempt

I attempted Chris Cooking Nashville's "carnivore" bread (see video). My loaf didn't have the oven spring that Chris's bread had, and that's undoubtedly because I over-whipped my heavy cream until it was practically butter. Still, my bread didn't come out quite as bad-looking as I feared, so here's a picture of the modest loaf:

"carnivore" bread

Technically, there isn't supposed to be any dairy in the carnivore diet, so Chris is stretching the meaning of the term "carnivore." The bread is, however, perfectly keto.

Here it is, out of the bread pan:

And here's a cross section:

a decent, bread-like crumb

Here's a closeup of the crumb:

The bread certainly had a spongy texture. Here's another look:

And lastly, here's an attempt at a keto bologna sandwich:

a keto bologna sandwich... rather small

The bread smelled eggy while it was baking, and paradoxically, it felt spongy and moist after cooling, but it tasted dry. Out of the oven, it also never lost that eggy aspect (the recipe calls for four eggs, separated) in terms of both smell and taste. All in all, though, it's a clever recipe, and I suspect the bread would work best for things like grilled cheese and (as Chris recommends) Texas toast, but I'm not all that excited about eating it as regular sandwich bread. It's not inedible (in fact, I'll be bringing it in to work), but it didn't wow me. Granted, that's partly my fault for not having executed the recipe correctly. Anyway, for me, the search goes on to find the best keto bread recipe. I will, however, be trying Chris's recipe for hamburger buns in the morning. I have four burger patties in the fridge, calling my name.

To see Chris's recipe, go to this document and scroll to the third page. Or watch Chris's video, linked above. Chris's hamburger-bun recipe is also in that three-page document.