#Bishop Desmond Tutu

[ub-sessed]

Does anyone know where I could find Mission: Joy for free? My daughter needs to watch it for school.

[justwatchmyeyes]

We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose.

Bishop Desmond Tutu

[assemblyofoddities]

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion." No, they're not. They aren't entitled to respect when they take it away from others. No matter what anyone's beliefs may be, if they impose them on another person in a way that harms them, dehumanizes them, or strips them of their dignity, they no longer deserve dignity in return. If someone doesn't treat you will respect and dignity, even in the case of opposing beliefs, they no longer deserve, or should have, your respect and dignity, and vise versa.

[wearepaladin]

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."

-Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu

.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Why is “apartheid” the right word to describe Israel’s policies now and before Oct. 7? There are plenty of legal experts that have put effort into analyzing whether Israel’s legal strictures and formations are in line with the definition of the crime of apartheid as recognized by international law. Major human rights organizations have published reports before the current crisis. Palestinians used the language years ago. The late Bishop Desmond Tutu compared the situation in Palestine to the situation of South African apartheid. There was a flurry of reports published by Amnesty International; Human Rights Watch; by B’Tselem and Yesh Din, two Israeli human rights organization; and by Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organization. And it’s not really about comparison to South Africa; it’s about understanding that the inequities and disparities between the two peoples, [Israelis and Palestinians], are part of the legal system. Anyone living in Israel knows that. It is true inside what is called “[1948] Israel” and it is even more true, and very visible, in the West Bank. You have hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews living as settlers in the West Bank, you have millions of Palestinians who live on the West Bank, and [the two groups] are subject to two different sets of laws. Beyond that, there is systematic inequality that is enforced by semi-legal structures. [This includes] discrimination in access to housing or certain services inside Israel, allowing unofficial discrimination by institutions that will police the movement or the access of Palestinians to areas or to bank loans, etc. I know that in the U.S., talking about “Jewish supremacy” sounds suspect because Jews make a small minority in this country and there is a lot of Christian hegemony. But in the Israeli setting, Jews definitely enjoy a dominant position. There is Jewish supremacy that is [Israel’s] version of white supremacy.

[devoted1989]

Desmond Mpilo Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist.

Image found on Pinterest.

[carrickbender]

Sunday 7-

I had 2 drs appointments on Friday, one of which was a CT that was supposed to help figure out why I have so much pain in my right testicle(TMI). It saw nothing, so now we get to keep guessing. Boss told me to "take weekend off", but was doing the morning orders/teams call every day between 5-7, trying to fix stuff and do reconciliations. Glad they trust me with this, but wanna give a 'high five' to my imposter syndrome telling me im gonna get fired any day.

- had to take Henry to urgent care on Saturday, and it turns out he has the start of pneumonia. Wanna give a big shout out to the ARNP who told me she really thought he should just 'ride it out' after 10 days of awful coughing and that their kids 'were still in it after a month'. Yeah, the PA said there was no way he wasn't leaving without antibiotics. Made me feel like an asshole parent... he's on day 2, and already more of himself.

- I went back up there today for me, and I have pretty severe bronchitis. He put me on a different antibiotic, more steroids, refilled my inhaler, and actually listened to me. I mean, I appreciated his care and actual concern. Fun situation: while I was there, a tree fell across the powerlines and tripped off most of town, so they had to go to back-up generators. There was a hall full of people, in a brown out, that the staff were managing like pros. Seriously, we are lucky to have that place.

-after today, I have 4 payments left on my car. 4. I think we will wait till June, and then it's 4 door vehicle time. The lunabug is getting taller, and we want to go see my dad/stepmom in Eastern Wa in something that has space. Everybody and their dog has sent me one of those damn, "interested in a new car loan? It's OK to check your rate, and won't hurt your credit" messages and as soon as my credit union chimes in, I'm sure we'll have something to talk about.

- speaking of something to not talk about, I learned a new term and joined a subredit today called 'dead bedrooms', and yeah, checks out completely. I don't have a therapist yet, so it's not a bad sorce of info or me trying to figure out what I have messed up(apparently, yet again).

- so I had to stop at Walmart(yay for small business destruction by a corporate giant!) for meds/a few groceries and this dingus in an f250 with a WA st license plate celebrating wrestling decided he needed to back into a compact space that was in front of me. He almost hit the first car on the way in(who had to stop and back up), but then he literally backed his 'not a farm truck but a penis extension' into the compact space in front of me, and thanks to me backing up knowing he would have been sticking out if I didn't, he took 3 feet of my spot and his hitch was literally 4 inches from hitting my car. In my space. And that entitled piece of shit didn't even look to see how close he was, he just walked away like he was the king of backing up. Look, I have no problem with wrestlers, but the only one who matters in my life is John Irving, and I think he would have been sensitive enough not to be a shit bird like that! (Part 1 of 2 rant)

- I wanted to share a thought or 2 about something I've seen going about on here for a little bit, because I think i need to say avfew things:

I love that I have so many people I follow here who take stances for the poor, marginalized, POC, and other underrepresented communities-not just in a perfunctory way of saying 'I support you'; but quite a few of you are actually involved in helping bring about change and strengthening communities by being unselfish hands that help heal hearts- you inspire me to be a better person, really. As a person of faith, I see you doing the work that many faith leaders of old spoke of when they talked of when they said, "serve as you have been served, and love as you have been loved"- and seeing that faith in action, it has made me read more about liberation theology and revisit the works of the Rt Rev Bishop Desmond Tutu, Dietrich Bonhoffer, and Dr Martin Luther King jr(and of the later, 'Why I oppose the war in Vietnam' is just as relevant now as it was then). I thank you all for this inspiration and work.

But what I have really come to realize about myself is that I am a person of privilege. I am a white CISmale, straight, accessed a good education at a young age, had a huge extended family that helped raise me when my mom had me at 17, have never had to worry about my gender causing me to be looked at differently, have a good job(for now), have access to clean water, don't live in a food desert, and save for the fact that I understood discrimination at a very young age thanks to my last name, I know that I have lived a mostly privileged life.

But there is one privilege I will never take for granted, and that's voting. And yes, I don't always vote my conscience because at heart, I am a democratic Socialist. But I always vote in my local and state house election because it is in places like your local school board or your city council where you can stop the spread of groups like 'Moms for Liberty' or any of the other neo-fascist organizations that seek to change education or change for the worse how cities deal with their population experiencing homelessness. If I stay home from these elections, I feel like I'm spitting on my great grandmother's grave(whose name I found on the voting roll of the first year that women could vote in Basin, Montana). I feel like I'm not being a good parent or a community member for sticking up for my sons right(or other kids rights) to read books in the school library that have a rainbow(let alone letting kids see representation for non-traditional families that are just the same as everybody else!). So please, if you're feeling crappy about the election, this right here is the biggest way to affect change if you don't know where to start or affirm.there is something you can do to really make a difference. Don't see enough representation of POC on your city council, especially in multi-ethnic communities? Hear a trans voice that would make for a great representative for all people? Fill in those boxes, act locally, and get those folks elected! It works if you work it!

I hear a lot of voices talking about Joe Biden these days, and I feel numb and angry about a lot of things that have been done in our names too: I hate HATE what is happening in Gaza(PBUT); I hate our support of Saudi Arabia and the proxy war in Yemen; Our jaunts in Zaire and Jordan; I hate that we are no closer to universal Healthcare, but I understand that that road and others lead through a Republican congress. I love that child poverty is declining, but programmes that were designed to make this a reality are sunsetting. We have a barbaric and truly archaic policy on immigration, and every time(that's not hyperbole, either), every goddamn time a good bill has been proposed to deal with the issue, the bill has been met by the xenophobic forces on the right and their deep pockets fueling the media and it is destroyed out of fear. And let's not forget student debt forgiveness, the continued dismantling of public education by states like Texas and Florida, Our goal of dismantling of the prison industrial complex, the protection of reproductive healthcare, and the dire need for nationwide police reform.

Yes, our laundry list is long, but it is full of necessary things that need to change or be codified in order for a great change to happen for generations and the continuatonof this great experiment called the U.S.A.

And for all of this and more, I ask: where are the leaders of our generation on this? Where are the ghosts of John Lewis, of Paul Wellstone, and of Shirley Chisholm? Thankfully, our leaders and the ghostsbof their forebearers are there- they are doing their best, and thankfully we(those of us on the progressive side) are represented by POC women who will go to the mat for these issues and more, being inspired by those who came before them. But the more that I think about it, it's time that we offer an ultimatum: we'll give you our voting block, Joe. We'll help bring along the majority of the 9 million new voters who are coming of age this year, so you will have a supermajority with which you can put forth truly transformative legislation. Sure, you'll get us- for now. But if it's businesses as usual, if we are not knocking over the tables of the money changers, and if we are not investing more in programmes of social uplift than we are for the military industrial complex, then we strike. Not in 2028, as one of my absolute favourite people on here suggest, but in 2026, in early summer. Because it is people like me, those of us who have know privilege and continue to know it, who are finally waking up to the truth that we need to do the work. We need to do the heavy lifting. I'm willing to make that offer, and I hope I'm not alone, because there either needs to be a change in the way our political system operates, or we walk away and start our own political entity. I hope I'm not alone in the way I feel, and I hope that we can all make the proposition. We have the leaders, we have the people, now it's about courage. It's time.

But for today, if you can pull the lever for democrats nationally, I totally get it. But consider what I said about voting locally, and in local races and elect people who represent your values. It matters.

- ok, rant over: if you made it this far, know that I love you all and I hope this week brings good things for you. Remember what Pete Seeger always said: "Take it easy, but take it". Much love yall!

[mumblingsage]

From What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, by Sohaila Abdulali:

In 2013, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Jacob Lief (founder and CEO of Ubuntu Pathways) and I wrote a joint piece in The Guardian, in which we said:

...The three of us deal with this issue in different ways every day of our lives, yet we too are guilty of protesting articulately outside but leaving it on the other side of the door when we sit down to dinner with our families. Until rape, and the structures--sexism, inequality, tradition--that make it possible are part of our dinner table conversation with the next generation, it will continue. Is it polite and comfortable to talk about it? No. Must we anyway? Yes. You do not lose innocence when you learn about terrible acts; you lose your innocence when you commit them. An open culture of tolerance, honesty, and discussion is the best way to safeguard innocence, not destroy it.

[blacksagenews]

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam Sue the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) for the Misuse of the Word “Anti-Semite”

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL

For immediate release

October 21, 2023

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam Sue the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) for the Misuse of the Word “Anti-Semite”

Chicago—On October 16, 2023, which was the 28th Anniversary of the Million Man March, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam (NOI) sued the ADL, its CEO, Johnathan Greenblatt, SWC, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the SWC in the Federal Court of the Southern District of New York for 1st Amendment violations and for defamation.

For over 40 years, the Defendants have falsely labeled Minister Farrakhan and the NOI as “anti-Semites,” and as “anti-Semitic” because of a difference in theological viewpoints, and for his pointing out misbehavior of some members of the Jewish community, among other things.  This false labeling has hindered Minister Farrakhan in his Mission, which is to deliver the Truth taught by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad that will correct the condition of spiritual, mental and moral death of the Black man and woman of America that came as a result of the 310 years of chattel slavery and over 150 years of oppression and suppression thereafter.

Minister Farrakhan and the NOI, in bringing this action, are keenly aware that good, law-abiding citizens are likewise victims of this mischaracterization including, the late Nelson Mandela, President Jimmy Carter, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and many more.

The Defendants have, at times, indiscriminately and arbitrarily mislabeled countless politicians, entertainers, athletes, authors, educators, public speakers, academicians, comedians, and others, as being “anti-Semites” and as “anti-Semitic,” simply because, in many instances, the speaker did not agree with the Defendants’ point of view and, in some instances, simply because the person made a favorable comment about Minister Farrakhan and/or the Nation of Islam.

The importance of this case extends far beyond the named Plaintiffs, but it encompasses every citizen of America who values the freedom of speech, the freedom to exercise his or her religion, and the freedom to associate with persons of like interests.

These unjust actions by the Defendants, over the years, have caused many to fear their censure and rebuke, which, thereby, significantly erodes, and has a chilling effect, on the protections woven into the fabric of the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and must not be accepted.

If it is the will of Allah (God), Minister Farrakhan will personally address the filing of the lawsuit at a press conference in the near future.

The Complaint and Exhibits may be accessed at NOI.org/NOIvADL Email inquiries may be sent to: NOILawsuit@noi.org Voicemail inquiries may be left at: 602-922-3536

Download COMPLAINT against Anti-Defamation League, Johnathan Greenblatt, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Abraham Cooper

Download Links for Court Documents Below

Exhibit A-L,

Exhibit L1-M,

Exhibit N,

Exhibit O-Q,

Exhibit R-T,

Exhibit U-Z ,

Exhibit AA-CC,

Exhibit DD,

Exhibit DD1-EE,

Exhibit FF-GG,

Exhibit HH-JJ,

Exhibit JJ1-OO,

Exhibit PP-ZZ,

Exhibit AAA-MMM

The Complaint and Exhibits may be accessed at  https://noi.org/NOIvADL/ and www.finalcall.com. The Final Call will continue to cover this important and critical story as it develops.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Friday, February 3rd, the 34th day of 2023. There are 331 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

865: (traditional date) Death in Germany of Anskar, an early English or Irish missionary who had tried repeatedly to evangelize Scandinavia.

1238: Mongols surround the city of Vladimir, whose citizens, including Orthodox Christians, vow to resist to the last man to defend God’s churches. The city will fall on the fourteenth of that same month.

1399: Death in London of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, whose political struggles with powerful prelates led him to support the religious reformer John Wycliffe.

1469: Death in Mainz, Germany, of Johannes Gutenberg, a developer of movable type, which will become a powerful factor in the spread of the Protestant Reformation.

1738: John Wesley arrives in London, having fled the colony of Georgia, where his ministry had been a serious failure.

1767: The British House of Lords rules against the Corporation of London which, to raise money, had established heavy fines for anyone refusing to stand for office if nominated, and then nominated many dissenters, knowing that they could not take the oath required under the Test Act.

1788: Richard Johnson, first Christian cleric appointed to Australia, preaches his first sermon in that country.

1832: Death in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, of George Crabbe, a Church of England vicar and notable poet.

1943: The Allied troopship S.S. Dorchester is torpedoed by a German sub near Greenland and goes down with a loss of 600 lives. The event is notable for the selflessness of four chaplains, Rev. Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed), Rev. George Lansing Fox (Methodist), Father John Washington (a Catholic priest) and Alexander David Goode (a Jewish rabbi), who gave up their lifejackets to save other men.

1985: Desmond Tutu of South Africa becomes Johannesburg’s first black Anglican bishop.

1998: Execution in Texas of Karla Faye Tucker, a murderess, who converted to Christianity on death row and died praising Jesus. Movies and documentaries will be made about her life.

2005: The Islamic city council of Demre, Turkey (formerly the Christian city, Myra), votes to replace the town’s traditional bronze statue of St. Nicholas of Myra with an effigy of a fat man with a red fur suit.

[bobmccullochny]

History

September 7, 1822 - Brazil declared its independence from Portugal after 322 years as a colony.

September 7, 1940 - The German Luftwaffe began its Blitz bombing campaign against London during World War II.

September 7, 1986 - Bishop Desmond Tutu became Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, the first black head of South Africa's Anglicans.

September 7, 1994 - The U.S. Army closed its headquarters in Berlin, ending the American military presence in the once-divided city after nearly half a century.

September 7, 1999 - For the first time since World War II, Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, returned to Berlin, former capital of Imperial Germany as well as Hitler's Reich. The Bundestag held its first session in the fully restored Reichstag building, attended by parliamentarians from around the world. The session also marked the 50th anniversary of the Bundestag's first post-war session, held in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany.

Birthday - Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was born in Greenwich Palace. She was the daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. She ascended the throne in 1558 at age 25. During her reign, Britain became a world power by defeating the Spanish Armada. The Anglican Church was also fully established.

[uboat53]

We're about a week into Pride Month now, so I thought I'd write up a bit on the topic.

I'm a straight, white, cisgender man, so I'm pretty sure I fall under none of the umbrella terms encompassed by "queer", "LGBTQIA+", or any others that are celebrated during Pride. Still, it says something absolutely terrible about a person if they can only support the lives and freedoms of people who are in some way like them, so let me say this abundantly clearly:

I think that every person should have the right to love who they love, to have whatever relationship they want with consenting people, and to be whoever or whatever they want to be without fear of violence, oppression, or sanction.

I'm comfortable in the gender I was assigned at birth but, if I wasn't, I would want to be allowed to alter it. I'm happy in a heterosexual relationship but, if I wasn't, I would want to be allowed to be allowed to be in a relationship with and even marry the person (or even people) I loved.

Even if someone does something that I personally think is wrong or disapprove of, no one should be prevented from doing something unless they are actively harming another person. Being a bad example for children or offending someone isn't harm, and we should all fear a society where those are reason enough to deny someone their freedom.

Most importantly, though, it's not enough to just refuse to oppress another person, we must always be actively advocating for their rights. To quote Bishop Desmond Tutu: "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." A society where one person can be stripped of their liberty without cause is a society where no one's freedoms are secure.

So, to my friends who fall under the umbrella of Pride, know that you can always count on me. If you need my support, you will have it. If you need someone to confide in, I will be there for you. If you need someone with the privilege of identity to speak for or alongside you, I will always do that.

And to those who may read this who oppose homosexuality, transsexuality, or any of the many other identities and activities that are covered by Pride, know that I respect your right to disapprove. I may judge you for your disapproval and we may even argue or debate over it, but I will always oppose using the law as a blunt tool to force you to act against your values. Know too, though, that I will also oppose any efforts you may make to do to others what you fear being done to you and that your desire to legislate your own way of life and beliefs upon others does make you a terrible person who will bear the judgement of history.

Despite all the seriousness and the very real and growing threats to people whose identities are celebrated during Pride, though, we should always remember that the real purpose of Pride is exactly that, celebration. It's when we celebrate those who don't fit into the mold of the old-fashioned stereotypes. It's when we celebrate the hard won freedom to be ourselves, even if it isn't what other people want us to be.

So this Pride, it's more important than ever to celebrate all the progress we have made. To celebrate that people all across the country have the right to marry who they love, no matter what gender they are. To celebrate that, at least in a fair amount of the country, people have the right to change their identity to reflect who they really are.

The struggle isn't anywhere close to over, but we've come a long, long way. Happy Pride!

[theadmiringbog]

There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.

—Bishop Desmond Tutu

--

The majority of people reading this book can expect to die somewhere in their seventies or eighties, give or take, and almost all from “slow” causes. Assuming that you’re not someone who engages in ultrarisky behaviors like BASE jumping, motorcycle racing, or texting and driving, the odds are overwhelming that you will die as a result of one of the chronic diseases of aging that I call the Four Horsemen: heart disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, or type 2 diabetes and related metabolic dysfunction. To achieve longevity—to live longer and live better for longer—we must understand and confront these causes of slow death.

--

how well you live—the quality of your years. This is called healthspan,

--

You must be well informed, medically literate to a reasonable degree, clear-eyed about your goals, and cognizant of the true nature of risk. You must be willing to change ingrained habits, accept new challenges, and venture outside of your comfort zone if necessary. You are always participating, never passive. You confront problems, even uncomfortable or scary ones, rather than ignoring them until it’s too late. You have skin in the game, in a very literal sense. And you make important decisions.

--

I ask all my patients to sketch out an alternative future for themselves. What do you want to be doing in your later decades? What is your plan for the rest of your life?

--

Here’s another way to think of it. Lifespan deals with death, which is binary: you’re alive, and then you’re dead. It’s final. But before that happens, sometimes long before, most people suffer through a period of decline that, I would argue, is like dying in slow motion.

--

Medicine 2.0 relies on two types of tactics, broadly speaking: procedures (e.g., surgery) and medications. Our tactics in Medicine 3.0 fall into five broad domains: exercise, nutrition, sleep, emotional health, and exogenous molecules, meaning drugs, hormones, or supplements.

--

I now consider exercise to be the most potent longevity “drug” in our arsenal, in terms of lifespan and healthspan.

--

The data are unambiguous: exercise not only delays actual death but also prevents both cognitive and physical decline, better than any other intervention.

--

The best science out there says that what you eat matters, but the first-order term is how much you eat: how many calories you take into your body.

--

My rule of thumb is that if a given intervention can be shown to extend lifespan or healthspan in multiple species spanning a billion years of evolution, for example, from worms to monkeys, then I am inclined to take it seriously.

--

Jeanne Calment, who once joked, “I’ve only ever had one wrinkle, and I’m sitting on it.”

--

no other molecule had been shown to extend lifespan in a mammal. Ever.

--

The life-extending effect of CR seems to be almost universal. Numerous labs have found that restricting caloric intake lengthens lifespan not only in rats and mice (usually) but also in yeast, worms, flies, fish, hamsters, dogs, and even, weirdly, spiders. It has been found to extend lifespan in just about every model organism on which it has been tried,

--

what we eat and how we metabolize it appear to play an outsize role in longevity.

--

In Medicine 3.0, we have five tactical domains that we can address in order to alter someone’s health. The first is exercise, which I consider to be by far the most potent domain in terms of its impact on both lifespan and healthspan. Of course, exercise is not just one thing, so I break it down into its components of aerobic efficiency, maximum aerobic output (VO2 max), strength, and stability, all of which we’ll discuss in more detail. Next is diet or nutrition—or as I prefer to call it, nutritional biochemistry. The third domain is sleep, which has gone underappreciated by Medicine 2.0 until relatively recently. The fourth domain encompasses a set of tools and techniques to manage and improve emotional health. Our fifth and final domain consists of the various drugs, supplements, and hormones that doctors learn about in medical school and beyond. I lump these into one bucket called exogenous molecules, meaning molecules we ingest that come from outside the body.

--

When I evaluate new patients, I’m always asking three key questions:

Are they overnourished or undernourished? That is, are they taking in too many or too few calories?

Are they undermuscled or adequately muscled?

Are they metabolically healthy or not?

--

More than any other tactical domain we discuss in this book, exercise has the greatest power to determine how you will live out the rest of your life.

There are reams of data supporting the notion that even a fairly minimal amount of exercise can lengthen your life by several years. It delays the onset of chronic diseases, pretty much across the board, but it is also amazingly effective at extending and improving healthspan. Not only does it reverse physical decline, which I suppose is somewhat obvious, but it can slow or reverse cognitive decline as well. (It also has benefits in terms of emotional health, although those are harder to quantify.)

--

peak aerobic cardiorespiratory fitness, measured in terms of VO2 max, is perhaps the single most powerful marker for longevity. VO2 max represents the maximum rate at which a person can utilize oxygen. This is measured, naturally, while a person is exercising at essentially their upper limit of effort. (If you’ve ever had this test done, you will know just how unpleasant it is.) The more oxygen your body is able to use, the higher your VO2 max.

--

The strong association between cardiorespiratory fitness and longevity has long been known. It might surprise you, as it did me, to learn that muscle may be almost as powerfully correlated with living longer. A ten-year observational study of roughly 4,500 subjects ages fifty and older found that those with low muscle mass were at 40 to 50 percent greater risk of mortality than controls, over the study period.

--

I will find a way to lift heavy weights in some way, shape, or form four times per week, no matter what else I am doing or where I might be traveling.

--

Think of the Centenarian Decathlon as the ten most important physical tasks you will want to be able to do for the rest of your life. Some of the items on the list resemble actual athletic events, while some are closer to activities of daily living, and still others might reflect your own personal interests.

--

I might include some of the following: Hike 1.5 miles on a hilly trail. Get up off the floor under your own power, using a maximum of one arm for support. Pick up a young child from the floor. Carry two five-pound bags of groceries for five blocks. Lift a twenty-pound suitcase into the overhead compartment of a plane.

--

The three dimensions in which we want to optimize our fitness are aerobic endurance and efficiency (aka cardio), strength, and stability.

--

When we say “cardio,” we are talking about not one thing, but a physiologic continuum, ranging from an easy walk to an all-out sprint. The various levels of intensity all count as cardio but are fueled by multiple different energy systems. For our purposes, we are interested in two particular regions of this continuum: long, steady endurance work, such as jogging or cycling or swimming, where we are training in what physiologists call zone 2, and maximal aerobic efforts, where VO2 max comes into play.

--

Typically, zone 1 is a walk in the park and zone 5 (or 6, or 7) is an all-out sprint. Zone 2 is more or less the same in all training models: going at a speed slow enough that one can still maintain a conversation but fast enough that the conversation might be a little strained.

--

Millán and other exercise physiologists, it seems that about three hours per week of zone 2, or four 45-minute sessions, is the minimum required for most people to derive a benefit and make improvements,

--

I am so persuaded of the benefits of zone 2 that it has become a cornerstone of my training plan. Four times a week, I will spend about an hour riding my stationary bike at my zone 2 threshold.

--

One way to track your progression in zone 2 is to measure your output in watts at this level of intensity. (Many stationary bikes can measure your wattage as you ride.) You take your average wattage output for a zone 2 session and divide it by your weight to get your watts per kilogram, which is the number we care about. So if you weigh 60 kilos (about 132 pounds) and can generate 125 watts in zone 2, that works out to a bit more than 2 watts/kg, which is about what one would expect from a reasonably fit person. These

--

I have all my patients undergo VO2 max testing and then train to improve their score. Even if you are not competing in high-level endurance sports, your VO2 max is an important number that you can and should know.

--

the way we train VO2 max is pretty similar to the way elite athletes do it: by supplementing our zone 2 work with one or two VO2 max workouts per week. Where HIIT intervals are very short, typically measured in seconds, VO2 max intervals are a bit longer, ranging from three to eight minutes—and a notch less intense. I do these workouts on my road bike, mounted to a stationary trainer, or on a rowing machine, but running on a treadmill (or a track) could also work. The tried-and-true formula for these intervals is to go four minutes at the maximum pace you can sustain for this amount of time—not an all-out sprint, but still a very hard effort. Then ride or jog four minutes easy, which should be enough time for your heart rate to come back down to below about one hundred beats per minute. Repeat this four to six times and cool down.

--

I’m less concerned with how big my biceps are or how much I can bench press. Those might matter if you’re a bodybuilder or a powerlifter, but I’d argue they matter less in the Centenarian Decathlon (or in real life). A far more important measure of strength, I’ve concluded, is how much heavy stuff you can carry.

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Fundamentally I structure my training around exercises that improve the following:

Grip strength, how hard you can grip with your hands, which involves everything from your hands to your lats (the large muscles on your back). Almost all actions begin with the grip.

Attention to both concentric and eccentric loading for all movements, meaning when our muscles are shortening (concentric) and when they are lengthening (eccentric). In other words, we need to be able to lift the weight up and put it back down, slowly and with control. Rucking down hills is a great way to work on eccentric strength, because it forces you to put on the “brakes.”

Pulling motions, at all angles from overhead to in front of you, which also requires grip strength (e.g., pull-ups and rows). Hip-hinging movements, such as the deadlift and squat, but also step-ups, hip-thrusters, and countless single-leg variants of exercises that strengthen the legs, glutes, and lower back.

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One thing that stability training has taught me is that most “acute” injuries, such as a torn ACL or a hamstring tear, are rarely sudden. While their onset may be rapid—instantaneous back or neck or knee pain—there was likely a chronic weakness or lack of stability at the foundation of the joint that was the true culprit. This is the real iceberg in the water. The “acute” injury is just the part you see, the manifestation of the underlying weakness.

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Stability is tricky to define precisely, but we intuitively know what it is. A technical definition might be: stability is the subconscious ability to harness, decelerate, or stop force.

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One simple test that we ask of everyone, early on, looks like this: lie on your back, with one hand on your belly and the other on your chest, and just breathe normally, without putting any effort or thought into it. Notice which hand is rising and falling—is it the one on your chest, or your belly, or both (or neither)? Some people tend to flare their ribs and expand the chest on the inhale, while the belly is flat or even goes down. This creates tightness in the upper body and midline, and if the ribs stay flared, it’s difficult to achieve a full exhalation. Others breathe primarily “into” the belly, which tilts the pelvis forward. Still others are compressed, meaning they have difficulty moving air in and out altogether, because they cannot expand the rib cage with each inhalation.

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Beth identifies three types of breathing styles and associated phenotypes, which she jokingly calls “Mr. Stay Puft,” the “Sad Guy,” and the “Yogini”—each corresponding to a different set of stability strategies:

Mr. Stay Puft HYPERINFLATED. This person is an upper-chest breather who tends to pull up into spinal extension for both respiration and stability. Their lumbar spine is in hyperextension, while their pelvis lives in anterior (forward) tilt, meaning their butt sticks out. They are always pulling up into themselves, trying to look like they are in charge. They have a limited sense of grounding in the feet, and limited ability to pronate to absorb shock (the feet turn outward, or supinate). All of the above makes them quite susceptible to lower back pain, as well as tightness in their calves and hips.

Sad Guy COMPRESSED. Everything about them is sort of scrunched down and tight. Their head juts forward, and so do their shoulders, which kind of roll to the front because they are always pulling forward to try and take in more air. Their midback rolls in an overly flexed or hyperkyphotic posture, and they have limited neck and upper limb motion. Sometimes their lower legs externally rotate, and the feet overpronate. Gravity is weighing them down. Yogini

UNCONTROLLED. These folks have extreme passive range of motion (i.e., flexibility)—and extremely limited ability to control it. They can often do a toe touch and put their palms flat on the floor, but because of their lack of control, these people are quite prone to joint injuries. They are always trying to find themselves in space, fidgeting and twitching; they compensate for their excessive flexibility by trying to stabilize primarily with their neck and jaw. It is very hard for them to put on lean mass (muscle). Sometimes they have very high anxiety, and possibly also a breathing pattern disorder.

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I now realize that I was too far on the left on the Dunning-Kruger curve, caricatured below in figure 14—my maximal confidence and relatively minimal knowledge having propelled me quite close to the summit of “Mount Stupid.”

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Nutrition is relatively simple, actually. It boils down to a few basic rules: don’t eat too many calories, or too few; consume sufficient protein and essential fats; obtain the vitamins and minerals you need; and avoid pathogens like E. coli and toxins like mercury or lead.

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Directionally, a lot of the old cliché expressions are probably right: If your great-grandmother would not recognize it, you’re probably better off not eating it. If you bought it on the perimeter of the grocery store, it’s probably better than if you bought it in the middle of the store. Plants are very good to eat. Animal protein is “safe” to eat. We evolved as omnivores; ergo, most of us can probably find excellent health as omnivores.

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Once you strip away the labels and the ideology, almost all diets rely on at least one of the following three strategies to accomplish this:

CALORIC RESTRICTION, or CR: eating less in total, but without attention to what is being eaten or when it’s being eaten

DIETARY RESTRICTION, or DR: eating less of some particular element(s) within the diet (e.g., meat, sugar, fats)

TIME RESTRICTION, or TR: restricting eating to certain times, up to and including multiday fasting

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if you are overnourished, and statistically speaking about two-thirds of us are, you will need to apply at least one of these methods of caloric reduction: deliberately tracking (and reducing) what you eat; cutting out certain foods; and/or giving yourself less time in which to eat.

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“I think people get old when they stop thinking about the future,” Ric told me. “If you want to find someone’s true age, listen to them. If they talk about the past and they talk about all the things that happened that they did, they’ve gotten old. If they think about their dreams, their aspirations, what they’re still looking forward to—they’re young.”

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I Will Not Allow My Hope to Be Hijacked | From Behind the Pen

Image Credit: ShonEjai/Pixabay Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. – Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist I’ve written on the topic of hope more times than I can count. When I released my book We Are Poetry: Lessons I Didn’t Learn in a Textbook two years ago, someone…

[frombehindthepen]

I Will Not Allow My Hope to Be Hijacked

I Will Not Allow My Hope to Be Hijacked #Perseverance #Optimism #Joy

Image Credit: ShonEjai/Pixabay Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. – Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist I’ve written on the topic of hope more times than I can count. When I released my book We Are Poetry: Lessons I Didn’t Learn in a Textbook two years ago, someone…

[isbellavidanewsnation]

Zimbabwe: The men of god surrounding President Mnangagwa

Some of the most prominent clergymen in Zimbabwe continue to embrace President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his policies. Who are these men of god?

With economic depression and political repression in Zimbabwe, analysts say one would have expected all the clergymen in the country to emulate South Africa’s fearless cleric Archbishop Desmond Tutu – who used the pulpit to fight apartheid – to speak truth to power. Instead, some of the most prominent ones have embraced President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his policies since he came to power.

“Such a rare breed of ecclesiastics with enough moral stamina to warn President Mnangagwa against looting national coffers and brutalising citizens are still to emerge in Zimbabwe,” says a political analyst who prefers to stay anonymous.

Three weeks before the citizen-backed military coup that dethroned the late president Robert Mugabe in 2017, Mnangagwa had been fired for “traits of disloyalty”.

When Mnangagwa took over the presidency in November 2017, he told his supporters that “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.

Many church leaders quickly embraced him even though his ascension to power was through a coup. Four months later, a local newspaper, The Herald, published an article saying churches had endorsed the “new dispensation” led by Mnangagwa.

 In the run up to the 2023 elections, the churches rallied behind Mnangagwa under #pastors4ED campaign on social media.

Here are five clergymen who have built close ties with the president:

Angel (born Uebert Madzanire) is a Zimbabwean-British evangelical preacher and the founder of Pentecostal ministry Spirit Embassy, which has a following in dozens of countries across four continents. He presents himself as ‘man of God’ and his followers refer to him by this title.

Mnangagwa appointed him as Zimbabwe’s ambassador at large and presidential envoy, following two weeks of induction and a training programme for diplomats in Harare.

A March 2023 Al Jazeera investigation linked Angel to a global money laundering operation. It showed how funds were illegally channelled to Zimbabwe and traded for gold from local mines. The gold would then be sold again for ‘clean’ money.

The government froze his financial assets and bank accounts, as well as those of others implicated in the documentary, for investigation. But a month later, the authorities reversed the decision saying investigations had stopped as there was no wrongdoing.

Angel resumed his ambassadorial role, representing Zimbabwe in Europe and the Americas, while Parliament Speaker Jacob Mudenda blocked legislators from conducting their own independent investigations into money laundering allegations against him.

Angel’s international company, the Billion Group, has interests in several businesses, including a bank, Sam Barkeley Construction, Atom Mobile and Picasso Hotels. Angel is the author of several books on how to make money.

Mutendi, referred to as ‘His Grace’ by his followers, is the leader of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), one of the largest churches in Zimbabwe. His support for Mnangagwa and the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party is no secret.

At a public event in May 2018, Mnangagwa said Mutendi’s late father, Bishop Samuel Mutendi – who founded ZCC — foretold his “rise to power” as far back as 1964. The president and younger Mutendi enjoy cordial relationships.

In September 2020, Mnangagwa toured Mutendi’s wheat farm in Nyika, within Zimbabwe’s Masvingo Province, a manifestation of their deepening ties.

With a large following in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique, and other denominations of the church in Europe, Mutendi has used church gatherings as campaign grounds for ZANU-PF since 2017. The church headquarters in Masvingo can accommodate up to 40,000 people.

Mutendi has been making headlines for delaying payment for the company that designed the building. The firm, Empire Designs, is also yet to receive payment of around $800,000 for the design of Mutendi’s schools and wellness centres across Zimbabwe.

Mutendi is not new to controversy. In 2014, he displaced more than 1,000 farmers from their land to construct church properties. The farmers, who had settled there following Zimbabwe’s land redistribution programme, alleged that Mutendi was fraudulently given an offer letter yet the cabinet had been dissolved five days before the 2013 elections.

“His offer letter is dated 26 July 2013. Most of us here got [our] offer letters way back [in] 2009. Now Mutendi wants to take over 500 hectares of Central Estates Farm, particularly the headquarters area,” said a farmer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Central Estates Farm used to belong to mining and properties magnate Nicholas van Hoogstraten before the government took over the land. At its peak, Van Hoogstraten’s farm used to keep over 60,000 cattle for beef.

Makandiwa (whose real name is Shingirai Chirume) is a controversial pastor in the capital Harare and one of the richest clergymen in the country. His establishment, the United Family International Church (UFIC), has a large footprint in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia, with an online presence through his DSTV channel Emmanuel TV.

In 2015, agents from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority visited the UFIC offices in Harare, demanding books of accounts, following accusations that the church was accumulating millions of dollars but not paying tax. Makandiwa’s spokesperson Prime Kufa said his church had no issues with the taxman, claiming that he was a victim of conspiracy theories.

In the run up to the 2023 election, Makandiwa invited Mnangagwa to his church in Chitungwiza Dormitory town. With an audience of approximately 60,000 people, he gave the president and his deputy, Constantino Chiwenga, an opportunity to campaign during the services.

UFIC sits on a wetland, which according to the by-laws is a no-construction zone. But Makandiwa’s proximity with the first family has deterred the authorities from pursuing the matter.

Last year, Makandiwa’s flamboyant multi-million-dollar mansion sparked heated conversations on social media. The mansion revived the issues of lifestyle audits, which influential clergymen evade while the taxman focuses on smaller churches.

Passion Java (whose real name is Panganai Java) is a famous pastor and leader of Passion Ministries. He is a mentee of Uebert Angel – who he named his son after — and a friend of Mnangagwa, as well as a staunch supporter of the ZANU–PF.

The preacher never shies away from flaunting his wealthy lifestyle online. He does this on a daily basis, praising Mnangagwa while chiding opponents of the ruling party. His late mother was a senator in parliament under the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance.

Java and his church have a larger following in the United States, where spends most of his time overseeing properties that he owns.

Ahead of the 2023 elections, Java hosted Congolese musician Koffi Olomide in Zimbabwe where he produced a song under the pastor’s record label. The song, which praised Mnangagwa, drew criticism from Zimbabweans online as well as members of the opposition.

Java also made headlines in South Africa after he reportedly spent R1.3m ($68,506) at a club in Pretoria to celebrate the birthday of Boss Lashaan, the manager of Passion Java Label.

In March 2022, over 9,000 people signed an online petition calling on the American authorities to deport Java over his alleged role in violation of human rights in Zimbabwe. He is yet to be deported.

Wutawunashe, the founder of the Family of God Church (FOG), is popular for leading national prayer days. His church has a steady following in Zimbabwe and other Southern African countries.

Wutawunashe, who has been allied to the ruling party for decades, endorsed Mnangagwa soon after the disputed 2023 elections, telling the opposition’s Nelson Chamisa to “swallow his pride”.

“As you can see, President Mnangagwa is genuinely popular,” Wutawunashe told the press in an interview during the inauguration.