Month: February 2009

KR Training

/ hsoi

For firearms training in the Austin, Texas area, there’s none better than KR Training.

Karl just redid the KR Training website (looks good), and added a LOT more classes for the coming months.

I’m a graduate of many of the KR Training classes, and am taking more in the future. It’s top notch training with a great instructor. There are those that know their stuff but can’t teach, then there are those that can teach but don’t know their stuff; Karl’s one of those few that knows his stuff and can teach. One thing I think he’s especially skilled in is helping beginners. He’s friendly, he’s personable, his knowledge is vast, and what’s also nice is that Karl doesn’t rest on his laurels. Karl keeps up with things, he’s willing to challenge established notions if it leads towards a better end result, and he’s an avid competitor.

Whether you’re a seasoned gun owner or someone looking to take their first step into firearms ownership, I recommend getting formal training. If you live within a few hour drive of Austin, I recommend checking out KR Training.

Tao Te Ching #57

/ hsoi

If you want to be a great leader,
you must learn to follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control.
Let go of fixed plans and concepts,
and the world will govern itself.

The more prohibitions you have,
the less virtuous people will be.
The more weapons you have,
the less secure people will be.
The more subsidies you have,
the less self-reliant people will be.

Therefore the Master says:
I let go of the law,
and people become honest.
I let go of economics,
and people become prosperous.
I let go of religion,
and people become serene.
I let go of all desire for the common good,
and the good becomes common as grass.

Translation by Stephen Mitchel.

It’s that middle section that really hits home today.

Sugar and butter

/ hsoi

Yes I know, sugar and butter — the root of all evil in foodstuffs, right?  We want all the delicious goodness they contain, but we want none of the bad they contain. Yes… we want to have our delicious cake and eat it too, but not get fat or anything like that.

So we have our long list of artificial sweeteners, which are well-known to have their side-effects. And the latest savior for the sugar-lover is Splenda, because it’s made from sugar, right? Must be good for you!

Check out the latest from PubMed.

Splenda alters gut microflora and increases intestinal p-glycoprotein and cytochrome p-450 in male rats.

Abou-Donia MB, El-Masry EM, Abdel-Rahman AA, McLendon RE, Schiffman SS.

Department of Pharmacology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. donia@duke.edu

Splenda is comprised of the high-potency artificial sweetener sucralose (1.1%) and the fillers maltodextrin and glucose. Splenda was administered by oral gavage at 100, 300, 500, or 1000 mg/kg to male Sprague-Dawley rats for 12-wk, during which fecal samples were collected weekly for bacterial analysis and measurement of fecal pH. After 12-wk, half of the animals from each treatment group were sacrificed to determine the intestinal expression of the membrane efflux transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and the cytochrome P-450 (CYP) metabolism system by Western blot. The remaining animals were allowed to recover for an additional 12-wk, and further assessments of fecal microflora, fecal pH, and expression of P-gp and CYP were determined. At the end of the 12-wk treatment period, the numbers of total anaerobes, bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, Bacteroides, clostridia, and total aerobic bacteria were significantly decreased; however, there was no significant treatment effect on enterobacteria. Splenda also increased fecal pH and enhanced the expression of P-gp by 2.43-fold, CYP3A4 by 2.51-fold, and CYP2D1 by 3.49-fold. Following the 12-wk recovery period, only the total anaerobes and bifidobacteria remained significantly depressed, whereas pH values, P-gp, and CYP3A4 and CYP2D1 remained elevated. These changes occurred at Splenda dosages that contained sucralose at 1.1-11 mg/kg (the US FDA Acceptable Daily Intake for sucralose is 5 mg/kg). Evidence indicates that a 12-wk administration of Splenda exerted numerous adverse effects, including (1) reduction in beneficial fecal microflora, (2) increased fecal pH, and (3) enhanced expression levels of P-gp, CYP3A4, and CYP2D1, which are known to limit the bioavailability of orally administered drugs.

PMID: 18800291 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

Other links talking about the same.

Look folks. I’m not saying you should sit down and eat a sugar-encrusted stick of butter, or twenty. But generally speaking I’ve found that the closer the food remains to nature the more it tends to work out alright. The more we process it, the more it’s engineered in a laboratory, the less good for you it really is.

But whatever you do, just do it in moderation. That’s really the key.

Funny sense of compassion

/ hsoi

Buda is a small town immediately south of Austin (almost an Austin suburb these days). Apparently a couple weeks ago there was a bomb threat phoned in to a high school. After the threat was received, 1850 students were evacuated… but apparently there are 1858 students at the school, since 8 special-ed students were left inside.

Principal Shirley Reich said one reason the children were kept inside was the chilly day, 47 degrees outside, and that “if anything I erred on the side of compassion for them.”

Now, maybe Ms. Reich did have honestly good intentions, and maybe it’s just an honest mistake. But I still can’t help but feel some sense of confusion over her sense of compassion.

So, it’s chilly outside, and it’s compassionate to keep 8 special-ed kids inside and send 1850 other kids outside into the cold.

Or, it’s compassionate to send 1850 kids away from the potential for an explosion, and keep 8 kids at ground zero.

This must be some of that “new compassion” I keep hearing about these days.

No consent

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Mike-istan didn’t consent.  Maybe he’d be interested in what’s going on in New Hampshire.

 

Updated: My wife passed me this link, which lead to this link, which lead to this link. Interesting stuff, folks.

Didn’t read but still got an A

/ hsoi

I remember back in 11th grade I was supposed to read Invisible Man by Ralph Waldo Ellison. The assignment was for each student in class to read some book, then on a particular day we were going to have a 2 hour writing assignment in class on the book. So since I didn’t read it, I naturally got to spend two hours sitting at my desk attempting to look busy. I wrote some b.s. on the paper, knew it wouldn’t fool the teachers, and naturally as a result I got a big fat zero (0) on the assignment.

But it would seem that not reading the assignment is a Good Thing for our (out of control) public servants.

The sad part is, they’ll eventually receive a grade for their work, but it’s going to hurt us a lot more than it’s going to hurt them.

Stimulated

/ hsoi

Well, it seems we’re officially going to get stimulated. I’m all a-flutter.

How did your Congressman vote? How did your Senator vote? Or I can save you the trouble, if a Democrat, voted for, if a Republican, voted against. Oh wait… it’s not THAT cut and dry. In the Senate, Specter (R-PA), Snowe (R-ME), Collins (R-ME) voted for the boondoggle. In the House 5 Democrats voted no: Griffith (D-AL), Bright (D-AL), Minnick (D-ID), Taylor (D-MS), DeFazio (D-OR); Clyburn (D-SC) didn’t vote, and Lipinski (D-IL) voted “present”… those two are as good as a “no”.

I hope this means my rainbow-farting unicorn is finally on its way. My kids have been growing rather upset that it hasn’t arrived yet.

 

Update: Anthony G. Martin’s commentary on this.

Good Customer Service – SureFire

/ hsoi

I carry a SureFire E2L flashlight. Yes, I carry it with me everywhere. I did realize what a Good Thing™ it is to carry a flashlight until I started carrying one. I use it frequently. I carry a Leatherman Wave too. My wife says I have a Batman utility belt. You may laugh, but tools are more useful when they’re around when you need them. Being on my belt, I’ve got tools on hand when needed. It’s that whole Be Prepared thing.

Last week my flashlight broke. I was unscrewing the tailcap and the spring that goes against the battery was tilted and fell off. I noticed one of the plastic retaining clips in the tailcap had broken off and then fell into a crevasse within the tailcap rendering it impossible to screw the tailcap back on. I couldn’t get the plastic bit out, and while trying to do so pressed the tailcap button and parts flew everywhere. Ick. I have no idea how the retaining clip broke in the first place.

I telephoned SureFire’s customer service. The man listened to my explanation, double-checked the model, took my address and phone number, and said a new tailcap is on its way. The UPS man just dropped it off. I have my flashlight again. Yes, I need to buy another (2 is 1, 1 is none… redundancy is good).

So let’s hear it for SureFire. No questions asked. No b.s., no runaround. Polite, friendly, helpful, and fast service. And of course, their products are great.