Extensibility

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Somewhere in the province of Noord ('North') Holland, The Netherlands, today. Awareness; 'reading' and processing incoming data, navigation, training [ Limberness; the road in between weak- and stiffness ]

Not exalting the gifted prevents quarrelling.
Not collecting treasures prevents stealing.
Not seeing desirable things prevents confusion of the heart.

The wise therefore rule by emptying hearts and stuffing bellies,
By weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.
If people lack knowledge and desire,
Then it is best not to interfere.
If nothing is done, then all will be well.

Lao Tsu in 'Tao Te Ching', translated by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English. Originaly published by Knopf, New York, 1972

Rich man's world

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Duin and Kruidberg parkingspace, 360° today. Breath [ relax ]

Above: post-training stretching on a spacious mobile stretching unit engineered by Volvo.

Min/max temperature: 7°C/10°C; humidity: 69%; precipitation: 2 mm; sea level pressure: 1015 hPa; wind: W 35.4 km/h; visibility: 10.0 kilometres; Clouds: Scattered Clouds 822 m.; Moon: Waning Gibbous, 84% illuminated

"[L]achahahahahahaa"

Boudewijn de Groot 'Het Land Van Maas en Waal' ('The land at rainbow's end'), written by Boudewijn de Groot and Lennaert H. Nijgh, produced by Tony Vos, first published in 1967 trough Decca

"Aha-ahaaa"

Abba 'Money Money Money', written and produced by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, recorded in 1974, first published in 1976 trough Polar/Epic/Atlanic

"Putting aside the close calls during the various Cold War crises […] none of the cases […] seem to support the idea that nuclear proliferation is "inconsequential," much less stabilising; just the opposite. [U]ntil and unless there is nuclear use, there is no proof in these matters: we cannot predict the future, and the causes of wars are always complex. All we know is that the United States fired nuclear weapons in anger on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, and the United States and Russia threatened to use them several times during the Cold War. However, for some reason, since 1945, they never have been used. It would be nice to believe that they never will. […] The Chinese […] claim that they have built 3,000 miles of tunnels to hide China's nuclear capable missile forces and related warheads and that China continues to build such tunnels. Employing missile reloads for mobile missile systems has been standard practice for Russia and the United States. It would be odd if it was not also a Chinese practice. […] North Korea also has gone to extensive lengths to protect its strategic assets. Almost all of its nuclear and long-range military systems have underground tunnelled bases or host areas. [ It is estimated ] that North Korea has in excess of 10,000 underground facilities to protect its key military and civilian assets. […] Russia invested over $6 billion to expand a 400-square-mile underground nuclear complex at Yamantau a full decade after the Berlin wall fell. This complex is burrowed deep enough to withstand a nuclear attack and is large enough and provisioned sufficiently to house 6,000 people for months. [It is believed] it is one of a system of as many as 200 Russian nuclear bunkers. […] The question is, what is next? […] Forty years ago, when U.S. and allied arms control policies were premised upon finite deterrence -- i.e., on the evils of targeting weapons and defending against them, and on the practical advantages of holding innocents at risk in the worlds major cities [emphasis added] -- arms control rightly became an object of derision by serious security planners. Since then, it almost has become an article of conservative Republican faith that arms control is self-defeating. It also has become an article of faith among most liberal Democrats that it deserves unquestioned support. Any serious effort to reduce future nuclear threats will need to move beyond this ideological divide. […] The best way to start would be to put our Cold War fascination with mutual assured destruction theorizing aside and focus instead on what is most likely to reduce the chances of war, nuclear proliferation, and nuclear weapons use."

Henri D. Sokolski in 'Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future', page 25, 37, 47, 55, 79. first published Januari 2016 by Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press, USA

"[T]here can be few experiences more frightening than undergoing an air-raid. However, the well-documented information on the subject […] shows that during the Second World War the great majority of people endured air-raids extraordinarily well-contrary to the universal expectation of mass panic. Exposure to repeated bombing did not produce increases in psychiatric disorders. Although short-lived fear reactions were common, surprisingly few prolonged phobic reactions emerged. In the course of his official report to the Medical Research Council, Sir Aubrey Lewis (1942) said that “the doctors in Liverpool trained 18 volunteers as auxiliary mental-health workers for service in and after raids, but none of the 18 has been required: there was no such work for them to do,” […] His summary of his findings (“air-raids have not been responsible for any striking increase in neurotic illness” […]) is in keeping with many similar reports from other workers. [It is] noted that “the small number of psychiatric casualties that have followed aerial bombardment has been a matter for surprise”. Although [it] did obtain some evidence of fear induction and of an exacerbation of neurotic reactions, on the whole Lewis’s survey was remarkable in showing how uncommon these reactions were. In Coventry, Manchester, Liverpool and London, psychiatrists and other service-workers agreed that there had not been any significant increase in the number of patients attending psychiatric clinics. There was however evidence of more fear and related disturbances among the children. So for example, 4 per cent of 8000 school-children in Bristol (subjected to severe air-raids) were said to have developed anxiety symptoms attributable to raids. […] The fears were particularly common and noticeable among children who had been subjected to traumatic experiences. It was also observed in Bristol and in Manchester, that “frightened mothers communicated their fears to the children” […] This British information is matched by the reports from Japan and Germany […] Immediately after an air-raid, many people experienced acute emotional reactions characterised by startle responses, tremor, fatigue and sleep disturbance. However, these acute reactions generally dissipated spontaneously, usually within the course of a day or two. People adapted to air-raids and became more courageous with increasing experience, even when as in London, the raids became progressively heavier. The observations of comparative fearlessness enduring despite repeated exposures to intense trauma, uncontrollability and uncertainty, run contrary to the conditioning theory of fear acquisition. According to this theory, people subjected to repeated air-raids should acquire multiple conditioned fear reactions and these should be strengthened with repeated exposures."

Stanley Rachman in 'The Conditioning Theory of Fear-Ecquisition: A Critical Examination', page 379, 380, first published in 1976 by Pergamon Press. Printed in Great Brittain

Today_footprint_clear_sunny_dune_full_beach_run

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Above: Cooling down after 28kms dune and full beach -- Swash, Face, Wrack and Berm -- run. 

Flow on demand

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Kennemer Dunes, today. Flow [ on command ]

Min/max temperature: 3°C/10°C; humidity: 72%; precipitation: 0 mm; sea level pressure: 996 hPa; wind SW 25.7 km/h; visibility: 10.0 kilometres; Clouds: Few 701 m., Scattered Clouds 822 m., Mostly Cloudy 1341 m.

"The biomechanics of the foot is a complex subject. […] Unique characteristics are making it possible that the foot, when in need, is rigid, by adjusting the 26 bones into one unity, or, when in need, contrary to that into total flexibility, such as when climbing barefoot. Between these extremities the mobility of the feet is found during walking. The necessity for variation of the activities of the foot-structure comes from the fact that the surfaces we stand and move on differ substantially. From soft and slippery to hard and rough. […] In the western world the foot is more often than not dressed with a semi-regid shell, the shoe. Simply trough these circumstances certain conditions are available for the development of deviations. […] The foot is being formed during the development of the leg during the eighth week of pregnancy. After birth, growth, both with boys and girls, goes slow. There are two main periods with a clearly visible growth spurt, in the first two years and during puperty. On average a girl at the age of 1 and boys with the age of 18 months have feet half the size of adults. […] The relatively large size of the feet is important to provide a broad base on which the body rests. At times this is a compensation for lack of muscle-power and coordination of the child. […] The movement of the separate joints in the foot are rather difficult to describe, because the foot from time to time functions as one whole entity and on other moments is very flexible to adjust to different surfaces, both during standing as during movement. In particular are the possibilities demonstrated of the normal foot as a limb able to grab things, trough people without arms. These people dress their selves, eat, even write with their feet and toes. […] The reality of the saddening number of foot abnormalities and the numerous painful and perspiring feet, show that shoes oftentimes exercice harmful effects upon the feet. Uninjured feet usually are found only with young children and barefoot walking peoples."

Victor H. Frankel, Margraeta Noridn, Chris J. Snijders in 'Basic Biomechanics of the Skeletal System', page 110, 325, first published in 1980 by Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia

"Leadership […] means winning the hearts and minds of others to achieve a common purpose. […] There is a Dutch phrase that reads: A fish starts to stink first at the head. If the leadership at the top of the organisation is not performing up to scratch, then one cannot expect the rest of the organisation to perform well. Leading by example and charisma are of vital importance. This means that the person [ who leads ] takes responsibility especially at moments of confusion and doubt. [ He ] should praise loudly and reprimand softly. A pat on the back or a word of appreciation is extremely important for the confidence […] I once read a phrase of a wise man that said: A good carriage driver never lashes his whip. This wise man did not mean to imply that the carriage driver should not use his whip, but that he should manage his carriage in such a way that it was not necessary to use it. […] Job satisfaction is extremely important for people in any organisation in order to gain the best results. One can achieve that by creating the circumstances in which people can use their talents, their initiatives. They should feel […] respected […] in the organisation. If the people in the unit feel happy, i.e. have high morale, the performance of a unit will be first rate. That also helps to alleviate stress. […] Management of stress must start during preparations [...] A number of factors are to be considered  [ , 1 ] realistic training [ ; 2 ] unit cohesion [ ; 3 ]  good communication [ ; 4 ] to expect the unexpected. [ ; 5 ] time out. When a unit works hard […] it is necessary to give [ them ] a break from their stressful environment [ by ] providing an opportunity for rest and recuperation. […] I have learnt from the mistakes I made during my commands. Those lessons appeared to be very useful during the peace support operations in which I participated. The responsibilities of a commander are enormous. It is a lonely job. He cannot delegate responsibility. He can only delegate some powers. But he does not have to feel lonely when he puts his trust and his confidence in his subordinates. Make time for the people that are entrusted to your care and you will not be disappointed."

P.C. Cammaert, in 'NL Arms', page 31, 33, 37, 38, 39, first published in 1997 by RNMA, Breda

"Bolstered by mortar and artillery fire, the troopers, outnumbered sometimes five to one, fought all trough the morning to clear the zones. In the wild, chaotic fighting that ensued over a period of four hours on the zones, one of the most beloved officers in the 82nd, the heavyweight champion of the division, Captain Anthony Stefanich, was killed. "We've come a long way together," he told his men. "Tell the boys to do a good job." Then he died."

Cornelius Ryan in 'A Bridge Too Far', page 363, first published in 1974 by Simon and Schuster, New York