MarkFord.net
The open-for-inspection half-way home for my writing…
The latest issue of Independent Healing “The Healing Sun”
The dermatology industry has it all wrong… Sunlight is not your enemy.
Including:
* Which cancer procedures are legitimate… and which ones clinics use to pad their bottom line
* Why following mainstream advice about sun exposure shortens your lifespan as much as smoking
* Why one dermatologist congratulates his patients when they get basal cell cancer
Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump by Rick Reilly
A shamefully delicious exposé on Donald Trump’s longstanding reputation for cheating at golf. Having heard the rumor for many years, sportswriter Rick Reilly spoke with golf professionals and celebrities who have played with the president to see if it was true.
Apparently, it is.
“To say ‘Donald Trump cheats’ is like saying ‘Michael Phelps swims,’” Reilly wrote. “He cheats at the highest level. He cheats when people are watching and he cheats when they aren’t. He cheats whether you like it or not. He cheats because that’s how he plays golf.… if you’re playing golf with him, he’s going to cheat.”
Let’s start with Trump’s handicap. He claims a handicap of 2.8. That is very low. In fact, it’s lower than Jack Nicklaus’s. “If Trump is a 2.8, Queen Elizabeth is a pole vaulter,” Reilly wrote.
LPGA player Suzann Pettersen told Reilly she believes Trump’s caddy is in on the cheating. “No matter how far into the woods [Trump] hits the ball, it’s in the middle of the fairway when we get there.”
My favorite story was told by ESPN football announcer Mike Tirico. He said that one time, playing with Trump, he hit one of the best shots of his life. “I was convinced it landed close to the green,” he said. But by the time he reached the green, his ball was mysteriously 50 feet to the left of the hole and in a bunker.
He was flummoxed. After the game, Trump’s caddy pulled him aside and said, “You know that shot you hit on the par 5? It was about 10 feet from the hole. Trump threw it in the bunker. I watched him do it.”
I golf once a year with half a dozen high school buddies. Half of them are Trump supporters and are likely to defend him on all political issues. This, however, they could not excuse.
Bill Bonner’s Diary.- A good essay about the “Trump boom” that we’ve heard so much about …LINK
Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space by Janna Levin
The inside story of the detection of gravitational waves using the most sensitive scientific instrument ever made – the “LIGO.” The machine was designed to detect infinitesimally small sounds (vibrations) created by giant astronomical events such as collapsing stars, merging galaxies, two black holes collapsing into one, and ever so faintly perhaps, the Big Bang.
Einstein had predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916. This book is the story of how that machine was built and improved upon, culminating, in 2016, in the confirmation of Einstein’s prediction.
Confidently written by someone that clearly knows her subject and is a very accomplished prose stylist. But the subject matter was difficult to grasp.
I’ve been reading two books while in Chile: A Short History of Chile by Sergio Villalobos and Los Versos del Capitan (The Captain’s Verses)by Pablo Neruda. The first one, at 204 pages, is the perfect length for someone with only a tourist’s interest in the country. The second one left me with the same thought I had after reading some of Neruda’s other poetry: If you can read Spanish, even rudimentary Spanish, it’s better to read him that way rather than in translation. Spanish, when articulated melodically – either in song or in poetry – is so much more beautiful than English.
Human beings are, and always have been, omnivorous. They thrive on natural products – meats and plants.
Some meats – from animals that have been kept in pens and shot up with hormones and other chemicals – are not good for you. Most people know that. But some plants are also bad for human health.
That’s what The Plant Paradox is about. Gundry explains that there are highly toxic plant-based proteins called lectins that are found “not only in grains like wheat but also in the ‘gluten-free’ foods most of us commonly regard as healthy, including many fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and conventional dairy products.
“These proteins, which are found in the seeds, grains, skins, rinds, and leaves of plants, are designed by nature to protect them from predators (including humans).
“Once ingested, they incite a kind of chemical warfare in our bodies, causing inflammatory reactions that can lead to weight gain and serious health conditions.”
Worth a read.
The Barefoot Writer
The latest issue of The Barefoot Writer
Including:
* Retainers, Jelly-Bean-Sized Projects, and Combo-Writing Payouts Await
* The Hot Debate Among Writers Who Want It All
* 7 Tips to Make Readers Love You
The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro
Twenty-five years after the biggest art heist in history, Claire Roth, an artist who makes a living painting reproductions, is given a chance to make a lot of money by reproducing a painting by Degas that was stolen in the heist. This is a John Grisham-like novel written by a woman. Like Grisham, the plot is good but the character development and prose style are lacking.
Bill Bonner’s Diary – Some things definitely evolve… but has the US economy or its culture improved in the last 70 years? In this essay, Bill Bonner converses with a ghost… LINK
The New York Times Magazine – I mentioned recently that I am having difficulty reading The New York Times LINK. IMHO, this once-great newspaper has become a garbage dump of bad ideology and dumb ideas. Case in point: A Q&A in “The Ethicist” (a regular column). The reader asks, “Is it okay for a Chinese restaurant to favor Chinese patrons?” The answer won’t surprise you: Yes, of course, it is. But it would not be okay for a restaurant owned by white people to favor their white customers.