So....

we've got a continuing problem with the economy. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Added to the mix, Iran now says it's a space and nuclear power as their nuclear program continues unabated. And Russia is flexing its muscles in our hemisphere. We also seem to find ourselves in, at the least, a diplomatic spat with China in the south China Sea.

But hey, don't you worry about a thing. Our man in the White House is on top of it. Seems he spends Wednesday nights dancing the night away and is heavily courting socialites in the White House, making sure he's up on the latest styles in and around the beltway.

Sure glad he's on top of everything going on in the world to the point that he can waste time preparing for his book tour when he gets out of office. Man, I feel safer already!

"You want me to do WHAT?"

Over the last year I have either thought or said those words out loud countless times. I have collapsed in a sweat-soaked heap on the floor wondering if I was going to puke, die, or both. I have stumbled to my car with my legs barely responding to my instructions. I have gone back to work red-faced and shaking so badly that I scared my coworkers. And I love it. Welcome to Crossfit.

A co-worker sent me a link to Crossfit Plano (www.crossfitplano.com) – he told me to check out the crazy people and their workouts. I had heard of Crossfit from a shooter’s forum (http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=59221) and it sounded interesting, so I contacted them to see how to get started. On Saturday, February 16th 2008 I showed up at 8am for their Elements class to get familiar with the fundamentals, then I was invited to stay for the Suffer on Saturday class to see what Crossfit was all about. Here is the posted workout from that day:

Suffer on Saturday:

"Resentment" - Have to rename this "The Deceiver" as it was much harder than it looked. No one started the second round today!

2 Rounds for time of:
Row 500m
1 Rope Climb (3 climbs from the Ground)
25 Box Jumps - 24"
25 Ball Slams - 20 lb
25 Kettlebell Russian Swings - 32kg
25 Pull Ups
25 Push Press - 65 lb
25 Wall Ball Shots - 20 lb
25 Knees to Elbows
25 Overhead Squats - 65 lb
25 Thrusters - 65 lb
25 Burpees
Muscle Ups - 5 (Sub 25 Pull Ups and Dips)
25 Hang Dumbell Squat Clean - 35 lb
50 Foot Walking Lunge

Staying true to the name, I suffered. A lot. I thought it would never end. I had no idea what I was doing (and of course everything was scaled for me), but one of the trainers stayed right there with me to help and to keep me going. I left the gym, went home and slept for 3 hours. Days later I was still walking like a drunken Frankenstein and couldn’t raise my arms above my head. Two weeks later I joined Crossfit Plano.

Years of mainstream gyms, aerobics classes, kickboxing and entire collections of workout DVDs that I could recite word for word bored the hell out of me. Almost 5 years of indoor soccer was really fun, but earned me an ambulance ride to the emergency room and a large collection of medical braces and bruises. Only one year of Crossfit, plus a gradual change in eating habits (www.zonediet.com), and an introduction to ZHealth performance training (www.zhealth.net) has done what years of traditional exercise and dieting failed to do. I feel better, look better and have made a permanent change in my life that I can live with. No more yo-yo diets and gaining another 10 pounds while my sprained ankle heals. No more feeling deprived or guilty for eating (and, very important to me as a beer connoisseur, drinking) the things I enjoy. No more dreading the boredom of the same old workout. I believe this is what they call a life-changing experience.

Besides the touchy-feely stuff above, here are the facts. I have lost 30 pounds over the last year, which translates into a total loss of about 14 inches measured over 8 points along my arms, legs and torso. A year ago I couldn’t do a single regular push-up – now I can do 15+ in a row. A year ago I couldn’t do a single pull-up – now I can do 3+ kipping pull-ups (http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_Kipping1-Concept.wmv) in a row without an assisting band. (Guys, I can hear your eyes rolling already – bite me, I’m a girl, this is much harder for us, as much as I hate to admit it). I didn’t even know what a deadlift was a year ago – I hit my PR (personal record) on the deadlift of 200 pounds last month. I can back squat and front squat my body weight. I’ve almost mastered the intricacies of the snatch (http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/cfj-nov-05/snatch.wmv), and in the last year I have done more handstands, cartwheels and tumbling than I have since 5th grade. Being out of your element, out of your comfort zone, isn’t a bad thing, really – you never know when life will surprise you and that will come in handy. Crossfit isn’t about mastering a single lift or exercise, it is about being competent and efficient across a wide range of physical skills. From the main Crossfit site: "[Crossfit] delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist”. This is Crossfit. And I love it.

Just one more tax cheat

telling us how we should live our lives.



Nice.

173 years ago today

a small band of brave men gave up their lives at the Alamo. Robert has been blogging the Texas Rev for the past couple of weeks - head on over and see what all the fuss about being a Texan is all about.

Is it just me,

or do you get the feeling this is like rats jumping off a sinking ship?

Treasury nominee bails out.

The person Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wanted as his chief deputy withdrew from consideration Thursday, dealing a setback to the agency as it struggles to address the worst financial crisis in decades.

Surgeon General nominee bails out.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, has withdrawn his name from consideration as surgeon general of the United States, he said Thursday.

And I'm sure we all remember the Commerce nominee bailing out.

New Hampshire Republican Sen. Judd Gregg has withdrawn his name from consideration as President Obama's commerce secretary, a major blow to an administration seeking to put a series of Cabinet problems behind it.

I guess none of these guys wanted any more Hope and Change?

Conference Call with Senator John Cornyn Today

I got a late invitation this morning to attend a conference call hosted by Senator Cornyn this afternoon at 1:15. What's cool about his conference calls is that they're real conference calls - open mike, basically. No muting or stuff like that, and you can hear the chatter in the background. Someone was listening to Rush Limbaugh - that cracked me up.

He was a few minutes late, and things sounded really busy there inside the Beltway. He opened with a couple of statements regarding the situation on the border and the spending frivolity in D.C. He is very (and rightfully so) concerned about the situation with the drug cartels and the running gun battles between the Policia Federal and the druggies. He invited the President down to get a first-hand look at the situation. I'm curious to see if the President cares enough or knows enough to worry about a potential war on our borders. In case you've not been keeping up with the news, it's a very bad and potentially catastrophic situation there. 7,000 people have died in drug-related killings since the beginning of 2008. Thousands of Federal Police have been rushed to Ciudad Juarez (across the Rio from El Paso) to help quell the violence. It's bad. He did mention that he's glad it's President Calderon in charge, and not his Chavez-sympathetic opponent from the last election. I thought that was an interesting and revealing comment.

Next topic was about spending, and the ludicrous amount of money being thrown about not only in the so-called economic stimulus program, but now in the equally ghastly $410 BILLION omnibus spending bill. At least they have the decency to call it what it is.

Finally, the "fairness" doctrine was discussed. Don't know what that is? I'm going to do you a favor: LOOK IT UP. Stupid is as stupid does, people.

The Senator then opened the line for questions and comments, and I was the first to chime in. I took the opportunity to express my concern over Attorney General Eric Holder's exploitation of the current situation in Mexico as an opportunity to introduce anti-gun legislation and to attempt to resurrect the so-called assault weapons ban. I opined that it was quite a stretch to blame the current situation in Mexico on the legal sales of semi-automatic weapons that looked scary. The Senator pledged full support of our Second Amendment rights, as he has in the past.

There were a couple of other questions, but nothing of note.

Here's what I took away from the meeting: the Senator sounded a bit...exasperated. I think he's a bit frustrated as a senior Senator in Washington, who's typically correct in his position, fighting against an irrational, emotionally-charged Senate. He's in the minority in more ways than one. Nonetheless, he was positive and clearly energetic.

I certainly appreciate his taking the time to talk to his constituency, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to particpate in that process.

Salvation

Looks pretty damn good.

Independence Day

Happy Birthday to Texas and General Sam Houston.

I'll be having a drink for ya tonight, General.

baaa baaaaa baaa baaaaaa

"Grandmother, what big teeth you have got."
- Little Red Riding Hood

Kenneth Davis swapped two rifles that he inherited and a handgun. "They're just taking up space around the house," he said. "So, I brought them in.

"It's a worthwhile cause," said donor Cal Nunnally. "They were sitting around. It's in my best interests just to bring'em down."

"We weren't using it. Too much crime out here anyway," said donor Roy Collier. He and his family gave up a sawed off rifle.

"Got my grandkids staying with me," said donor Wayne Lovell. "I don't need them messing around with the gun, and I've got no use for it."

Bryron Goebel has daughters aged 3 and 6, and now no longer owns a rifle. "Too many guns out there that are not properly protected from kids or from society, so this is a great event," he said.

So, you've got some folks who would give up their right to self defense and others who are too lazy to teach their children how to act responsibly around firearms.

What a bunch of retards.

There's just

something about log cabins that I like....

More Waco

Some more pics from some weekend fun:

JR on the draw, perfect form!



A rare picture of Rhonda's pistol working!



Smokin' a reload:

Waco

Fun match today, and I got to break in the new camera....

Here's JR scootin' and reloading:



Yours truly with a nice double working:



Sadly, Rhonda's day was not so good.... But her gun was fixed, right?

Submit, or else

A few days ago, I quoted Goebbels:

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.

A key part of the quote is the section that states:

It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.

So, flash forward to 2009. You have an anti Obama sticker on your car. You get pulled over and your sign/sticker is confiscated by the Police because the officer believes your sign is a threat to the President of the United States.

And to cap it off, you're then visited by the Secret Service:

''The Secret Service called and said they were at my house," Harrison said.

After talking to his attorney, Harrison went home where he met the Secret Service.

''When I was on my way there, the Secret Service called me and said they weren't going to ransack my house or anything ... they just wanted to (walk through the house) and make sure I wasn't a part of any hate groups."

Harrison said he invited the Secret Service agents into the house and they were "very cordial."

''We walked through the house and my wife and 2-year-old were in the house," Harrison said.

He said they interviewed him for about 30 minutes and then left, not finding any evidence Harrison was a threat to the president.

I'll say it again, because I think it's important:

It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State

How special.

Police: Dead man jumped or fell from taxi on I-35

From the other JR.

I'd think a dead guy would have less ambition.

Doesn't

this look entertaining??

New shooter day!

Took a new shooter to the range today. We worked on quite a few pistols, letting her get a feel for what she liked, and finished up with some fun time on my GSG-5.

Until today, she had never fired a weapon before in her life.... Do note the nice little group on the target!

Now it's your turn, folks. Introduce a new shooter to the fun of shooting as soon as you can. Get more shooters out there and vested in our future because frankly, there aren't enough of us out there!

Obama's Rhetoric Is the Real 'Catastrophe'

As pointed out here and elsewhere, all among the producers and nowhere to be found amongst the ever growing popluation of looters... despite what the chose one and his minions state, we are not in the worst economic crises in the history of mankind.

President Barack Obama has turned fearmongering into an art form. He has repeatedly raised the specter of another Great Depression. First, he did so to win votes in the November election. He has done so again recently to sway congressional votes for his stimulus package.

This fearmongering may be good politics, but it is bad history and bad economics. It is bad history because our current economic woes don't come close to those of the 1930s. At worst, a comparison to the 1981-82 recession might be appropriate.

The latest survey pegs U.S. unemployment at 7.6%. That's more than three percentage points below the 1982 peak (10.8%) and not even a third of the peak in 1932 (25.2%). You simply can't equate 7.6% unemployment with the Great Depression.

Mr. Obama's analogies to the Great Depression are not only historically inaccurate, they're also dangerous. Repeated warnings from the White House about a coming economic apocalypse aren't likely to raise consumer and investor expectations for the future. In fact, they have contributed to the continuing decline in consumer confidence that is restraining a spending pickup. Beyond that, fearmongering can trigger a political stampede to embrace a "recovery" package that delivers a lot less than it promises.

Let's see, what did Goebbels say?

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

Hmm, could the recent interest in a new version of the Fairness Doctrine be a sign of what Goebbels called for?? Nah, that could never happen here, right?

So

what better way to end the day at the range than get out the ARs and put some rounds downrange with the EBR.

Now

this is change we can believe in, right?!



God help us.

Babe-Raham Lincoln

I'll be darned. She's a little vapid and blonde, though:

"(Lincoln) was one of the greatest presidents in our history," she said. "People still recognize that today. We have so much to be thankful for because of him."

But she's hot.