Ronald Reagan, disavowing Donald Trump's border policy

"You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the earth, can come to live in America and become an American...Other countries may seek to compete with us; but in one vital area, as a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world, no country on earth comes close. This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America's greatness. We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people, our strength, from every country and corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation."
-- Ronald Reagan, in his final speech as president

In retrospect, I disagreed with much that Reagan did, but I was quite a political naif at the time and have changed a lot since those years. Still, quite a thing that he said then.

New metrics for looking at physical fitness

Interesting article from The Atlantic. More and more people are realizing the insanity of the BMI chart. It was formulated when a doctor started playing with calculating by dividing weight by height. The problem is that there are lots of problems with BMI as a gauge for health, such as severely underweight people, or people who are in to weight lifting, etc. For example, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is obese according to the BMI charts.

Do you want to say that to his face?

No science behind it, just a convenient chart.

Another example: 10,000 steps a day means you're healthy! Do you know where the 10,000 steps came from? A Japanese company made a pedometer (step counter) and 10,000 steps was a cool marketing mantra.

No science behind it.

Here's two paragraphs from the article: "The speed at which you walk, for example, can be eerily predictive of health status. In a study of nearly 35,000 people aged 65 years or older in the Journal of the American Medical Association, those who walked at about 2.6 feet per second over a short distance—which would amount to a mile in about 33 minutes—were likely to hit their average life expectancy. With every speed increase of around 4 inches per second, the chance of dying in the next decade fell by about 12 percent. (Whenever I think about this study, I start walking faster.)

Walking speed isn’t unique. Studies of simple predictors of longevity like these come out every couple of years, building up a cadre of what could be called alternative vital signs. In 2018, a study of half a million middle-aged people found that lung cancer, heart disease, and all-cause mortality were well predicted by the strength of a person’s grip."

Very interesting! I've always been a brisk walker, I've only met one person who walked faster than I: the animator of the movie The Wizard of Speed and Time, Mike Jitlov. He was also over half a foot taller than me. As for grip strength, the last time mine was measured I could squeeze 90 lbs with my left hand but only 45 with my right. Considering the birth defect and surgeries on my right, that's not surprising.

Grip strength is further discussed in a Swiss Army study. It wasn't just the strength, it was the life style that lead up to it. Being a couch potato and having a diet predicated on pizza, beer and potato chips lead to a flabby lifestyle in addition to a flabby body, including increased cardiovascular risk and shorter lifespan, reflected in a weaker grip strength.

From the article: "In 2018, a study of half a million middle-aged people found that lung cancer, heart disease, and all-cause mortality were well predicted by the strength of a person’s grip.

Yes, how hard you can squeeze a grip meter. This was a better predictor of mortality than blood pressure or overall physical activity. A prior study found that grip strength among people in their 80s predicted the likelihood of making it past 100. Even more impressive, grip strength had good predictive ability in a study among 18-year-olds in the Swedish military on cardiovascular death 25 years later."

Another paragraph goes on to say "... other experts I heard from estimated that the number of Americans who can do a single push-up is likely only about 20 or 30 percent. But that’s an issue of practice more than destiny. “Most people could get to the point of doing 30 or 40—unless they have a shoulder problem or are really obese...”. I immediately dropped and did 5. I could probably have done 10, but my right shoulder isn't far from needing a rotater cuff repair so I'm rather protective of it. My wife did 6, just to one-up me, though mine were faster and I think in better form. ;-) But to be fair, she's had a sinus infection dogging her.

Anyway, interesting stuff. The speed of walking thing I found quite interesting and promising for me. I've known that BMI was Bullshit Mass Indicator for a long time: we know whether or not we're overweight if we're honest with ourselves, I also know that I'm 20 lbs lighter than when I got married 14 years ago and I'm still slowly losing. I'm eating better, and in the last several years I've greatly reduced my consumption of soda. But I do need to improve other fitness markers like physical strength and cardiovascular endurance.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/06/push-ups-body-weight-bmi/592834/