Day: February 6, 2021

Am I really against “wokeness”? Or is it…

I admit that when I hear the adjective “woke”, I grit my teeth. I have something very specific in mind.

But…when I examined the issue further…what I am objecting to isn’t really a certain point of view but rather what I consider flawed thinking…that those on the right frequently engage in as well.

Onto some examples of what I am talking about:

  1. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez discussed her experiences when the Capitol was stormed by the morons. Yes, she was in an annex building which was connected to the Capitol by a tunnel. But some Republicans criticized her on the basis of inaccurate media reports of what she actually said.

I remarked that she was “a publicity hound” but “not a liar” and, while that comment got quite a few likes, I drew attacks too, including the all-too-predictable line:

“another male threatened by a smart woman.”

You see similar reactions on liberal twitter, faculty meetings, in UU churches, etc.

It appears to me that they think “if this person had the right attitude they would respond like this…”

And yes, conservatives act this way too. Didn’t like Bush? You must “hate America.” Don’t like this preacher? You must “love sin” (or Satan, or whatever.)

2. Some time ago, a sitting US Senator was speaking and someone came from the audience and interrupted them and took the microphone.

Rude, right? Well, to the woke, it mattered:

Was the interrupter a, gasp, WHITE MALE or a “WOMAN OF COLOR” and was the Senator a WHITE MALE or a WOMAN OF COLOR.

Why does it matter? “Privilege”, they say.

I say: nonsense…it was rude either way.

And yes, it happened in both manners (then Sen. Harris and Sen. Sanders)

But some Republicans also have a different standard: they were so upset at what they saw as insults from liberal politicians but told those offended by Trump’s insults to “get over it.”

3. Wokes often get upset when their advocacy based “scholarship” is called out (example: they are upset over criticism of the 1619 project)

But some conservatives happily run with crackpot ideas like creationism and “intelligent design” as it suits their social agenda.

I am not naive enough to think that anyone is perfectly objective and yes, some top of the line scholars are dreadful human beings.

But, well, I believe that one should try to be as agenda free as possible when pursuing the truth; there should be a difference between advocacy (what a lawyer does at a trial) and scholarship.

Summary: I have a distaste for these sorts of things; I actually want a more fair society that, when appropriate, includes multiple points of view.

I say “when appropriate” in that I don’t think that there is such a thing as, say “feminist engineering” (e. g. if the design is not done according to sound engineering principles, it will fail).

Matters sporting…

Let me point out that I am keenly aware of how ordinary my athletic abilities are. I’ll put it this way: when swim coaches saw me swim, they frequently asked if I had swam in high school. NO ONE asked me if I swam in college.

Or, one time, a New Balance shoe rep looked at me..and guessed my 10K run time within 1 minute and my bench press within 10 lbs…upon observation.

It is clear what I am: a gym bro who likes to do physical stuff but isn’t particularly good at it.

I’ll comment more later in this post. But I suppose that what this means is my videos are for me to look at and to determine what I should do next..and I got some valuable feedback from seeing them.

Today: rotator cuff and hip hikes before pull ups (still rested between sets)

5, 5, 10, 5, 5, 5, 5, then 6 singles then a set of 4: 50 reps total. the ones in the set of 10 were not high quality. Some chins..some standard.

bench press: 10 x 134 then (all “light touch and go..NO BOUNCE”)

3 x 184, 4 x 174, 4 x 174, 5 x 170

shoulder press: barbell: 3 sets of 10 x 92, 10 x 44 dumbbells

rows: 4 sets of 10 x 134

push ups: 40, 30, 10

headstand (went ok t0day)

very leisurely pace; took about 90 minutes.

My videos: I note two things: 1. Height looks MUCH better from behind ..the side angle is deceiving and 2. The set of 10: quality suffered in the second half; you can tell that by the bend in the elbow and how close my forearm got to the body. Note: it was 14 F outside…extra clothes were almost like light weights.

Set of 10: bad toward the end.

Set of 5: better quality.

Same quality (later set); but the height “looks” better.

Chins…not my best (note the disgust in my voice); I had rested a bit too much between sets.

35 to 40…getting tired..

Bottom line: cold weather, lots of clothes and too much body weight (200-205) makes these hard for me right now. 190 would feel better, as would warmer weather.

Sports Commentary

I’ve become something of a fan of Alan Thrall’s youtube channel. He is a gym owner and a coach who has had a modest amount of success in competition. He appears to be very down to earth and in tune with the fact that other people have different goals. So here are a couple of his videos;

  1. Why do people stop lifting?

I can just say what happened to me: I vary what I do per life circumstance. When i ran, I considered other activities supplemental. Then I got hurt running and so walked and swam. But I would injure myself in these activities…and I have not been to the pool in several years.

It now makes sense for me to get back to the pool but ..well..with vaccination I think I will return. And, as I age, well, if one activity gets more time and effort, the others either stop or get less. I have weight stuff and will probably stick with that until I am medically no longer able to lift. Same with walking.

And yes, I like the personal challenge though I am not setting PR’s in anything any longer.

And speaking of injuries:

Now, there is quite a bit of wisdom in what he says. That being said: I know that swimming improved when I changed my hand entry from “thumb first” to “pinky first”; it gave my shoulders more room to rotate.

But…as he points out…and increase in training (volume or intensity) that is too sudden is usually the main culprit. That point is pure gold.