Month: January 2013

Bullshit

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

President Obama is starting to talk about his gun control measures:

The Biden task force has “presented me now with a list of sensible, common-sense steps that can be taken to make sure that the kinds of violence we saw in Newtown doesn’t happen again,” he told reporters. “I’ll present the details later in the week.”

He added, “My starting point is not to worry about the politics. My starting point is to focus on what makes sense, what works, what should we be doing to make sure that our children are safe and that we’re reducing the incidence of gun violence. I think we can do that in a sensible way that comports with the Second Amendment.”

I hate the phrase “common sense”. Any time anyone drags that phrase out, what they mean is “something that I like, that I agree with”. As humans, we are born knowing nothing. We must learn everything. Consequently, we all can not and will not know the same things. Nor will we have the same experiences in life that will color our perceptions. If “common sense” is defined as “equating to the knowledge and experience which most people already have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have”… well, the emphasis is on the latter part, because it’s what people believe you should have.

We’re back to the same old thing of “agrees with me”. That if you don’t know the same things I do, if you don’t hold the same view that I do, then you lack common sense and you are a moron, to be looked down upon and shunned.

How sad that we behave in such a manner. But one people trot out the “common sense” line, this is what the mean, and often it’s meant precisely to demean “the others”.

Not worry about politics? Ha! This is precisely about politics. If you wanted to do things that actually worked, then you would. But you won’t, and you aren’t. You need to show some proof and data that your proposals actually do lead towards reduction in violence — because all the ones the gun control groups tend to trot out endlessly have a demonstrable record of failure.

And a sensible way that comports with 2A? Well, hopefully you remember what 2A actually means — it’s about tyranny, not hunting.

But will Congress adopt proposals like renewing the assault weapons ban? “I don’t know,” Obama acknowledged. Lawmakers opposed to such steps must “examine their own conscience.” In some cases, Congress won’t act but he will, the president said.

Gee… way to make it seem like anyone that doesn’t agree with your proposals must be some sort of unfeeling, heartless bastards.

He added that “responsible gun owners—people who have a gun for protection, for hunting, for sportsmanship—they don’t have anything to worry about.”

Bullshit. First, this shows you don’t know what 2A is really about. Second, there are those of us that use AR’s for protection, for hunting, and for sportsmanship. So yeah… we’ve got a LOT to worry about.

True, we haven’t seen precisely what the proposals are. But the track record so far, the words, the actions, the efforts of folks so far, it reeks. Sure, I do think it’s be wonderful to be pleasantly surprised if they actually proposed measure towards reduction of crime. I’d love it! But I doubt that would happen.

I mean, for a start… if you want to stop the senseless killing of innocent children… why not start with banning abortion?

Some of us already knew this…

/ hsoi

Researchers who have evaluated gun control strategies say buybacks – despite their popularity – are among the least effective ways to reduce gun violence. They say targeted police patrols, intervention efforts with known criminals and, to a lesser extent, tougher gun laws all work better than buybacks.

Full story, which I’ll deconstruct a bit.

It’s good that this article is in the USA Today. Not only because their parent company is anti-gun, but USA Today is a fairly mainstream and popular paper. So it’s good to see some facts and realities being printed, even if they might not be popular.

So why are buybacks ineffective?

The biggest weakness of buybacks, which offer cash or gift cards for guns, is that the firearms they usually collect are insignificant when measured against the arsenal now in the hands of American citizens.

[…]

The relatively small number of guns recovered isn’t the only problem, Scott said. Buyback programs tend to attract people who are least likely to commit crimes and to retrieve guns that are least likely to be used in crimes.

[…]

That means buyback campaigns more often end up with hunting rifles or old revolvers from someone’s attic than with automatic weapons from the trunk of a criminal’s car.

[…]

A buyback in Tucson, Ariz., last week collected about 200 firearms, many of them old or inoperable, in exchange for about $10,000 worth of grocery gift cards. A few hundred feet away, gun dealers set up tables and offered cash for any guns in good enough condition to resell.

“Every gun that came in was an old gun, no assault weapons,” Tom Ditsch, who watched the event, told The Associated Press. “They didn’t even take any weapons off the streets.”

That’s the thing. Criminals don’t participate in buybacks. Those who do participate are generally not involved in crime. The guns turned in tend to be junk (tho sometimes a rare gem comes along), and really have little effect upon things. I know amongst some gun-owners, they are happy to use these buyback programs as a way to clear the crap out of their attic and get more money for a broken gun than the junk is worth. So the program fails to achieve the aim.

Alas, despite the up-front admission of facts, the article goes on grasping for justifications of the practice.

“If we can save one life, if we can stop one act of violence, if we can get a gun out of one person’s hands, we have made progress in the fight to end violence in our communities,” said Ennis Tait, pastor of Church of the Living God in Avondale.

I expected someone would trot out the “if we can save one life” line. Given the number of lives saved because of the defensive use of firearms every day — certainly at least one life saved — then I guess that means having guns, concealed carry, and other such actions are worth it then, eh?  I mean, that’s the logic, so if it applies in that realm, it applies in this realm too.

Here’s some more facts from the article:

But some say that energy could be better put to use in other ways. Alex Tabarrok, research director of the nonpartisan Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif., said investing in buyback programs makes little sense when study after study shows they don’t work.

A few researchers believe buybacks may even do some harm: A 1999 article in the Law and Order journal found that some people sold guns to police during buybacks and then used the money to buy new guns.

Tabarrok said buybacks consume thousands of dollars, most of it donated, that would be better spent on police overtime to put more officers on the street, or on other law enforcement efforts that are more likely to have an impact.

First, we have unintended consequences. But moreover, what we have is people saying that all this money and effort would be better spent doing things that are demonstrated to work to reduce violent crime. Gee… how novel.

Look, I don’t know any gun owner that doesn’t want to reduce or eliminate violent crime. I mean, the fact some of us carry guns is because we accept the world contains violence and we’d prefer to not be a victim. We wish there wasn’t violent crime, we just accept that there is. Our approach tends to be looking at approaches that work towards the desired end. If the goal is to reduce violent crime, then let’s work on things that reduce violent crime. Just like this article stated: targeted police patrols, intervention efforts, those work. As well:

The most successful efforts involve old-fashioned police work, in which officers, probation departments and other law enforcement agencies work together to identify and target the biggest threats.

So it’s nice to see such a mainstream article presenting facts as they are. Gun buybacks make for sexy photo ops, but they just don’t do anything to reduce violent crime. When we have tools that we know work, we should focus our finite time, energy, and resources on them, instead of failed policies and processes.

2013-01-14 training log (and dietary rambling)

/ hsoi

Am I getting weaker on the Press? It feels like it… 😦

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 16, week 1

  • Work Set – Press (working max: 145#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x60
    • 1x5x75
    • 1x3x90
    • 1x5x95 (work)
    • 1x5x110
    • 1x8x125
  • Asst. #1 – Press
    • 5 x 101/6/10/8/10 x 95/95/65/65/55
  • Asst. #2 – Chin-ups (band assisted)
    • 5 x 6/6/6/5/5/ x BW
  • Asst. #3 – Stuff
    • Upright rows
    • Dips
    • Preacher Curls
    • 3 sets, 8-15 reps, enough weight to make it hard; on 3rd set immediately drop weight and keep going to failure
  • sled drags
    • 10 runs, 75 yards each
    • 75# on the sled
    • 20 seconds rest every other run
    • attach sled around hips, walk forward with large, purposeful strides

Am I just sucking at Press? I used to be so good at it, but I feel just massive regression. Right now I’m just post-reset, and it feels horrible to only crank out 8 reps with 125. Yes, I’ve got some technique change. One thing is bringing it out of the rack, pausing for a bit to (re)set myself, then deep breath and hold, press up, come back down, reset and breathe, repeat. This may be having some effect on me because there’s energy taken up to wait and reset and hold that “down” position. But I’d like to do this instead of breathing at the top. While there’s something “natural” feeling about breathing at the top, a Press is more akin to a deadlift than a squat. It’s starting at the bottom and going up — that’s the nature of the movement. Plus doing it this way, there’s no rebound effect at the bottom, like you get from a squat. So, it may just be a technique change and I just have to live with it.

I also decided in my assistance work at the end to use dips. Any other sort of triceps exercise feels either like it’s pointless or just hurting my elbows. But dips… well, hard to argue with how awesome they are. I only did 3×5 today and didn’t kill myself, tho that was certainly taxing for me. Mostly I wanted to feel out how my shoulders would take it, especially by that point in the session after all that other heavy pressing. So to get 3×5 was acceptable. I’ll just push from there.

Sled drags got a slight intensity boost. Since today hit upper body, I decreased the rest time to 20 seconds (from 30). That certainly made things tougher. I’m also trying to ensure every stride is long and meaningful, and that I’m moving at a fast pace… not running, just keep the walking pace brisk.

In diet news….

If you read my logs, you know that diet is the hardest part for me. I struggle here. The hard part is finding a protocol I can stick to and not do for a couple weeks then regress. I’ve found some things in the past, but then for some reason the protocol doesn’t work out (e.g. too much depletion). I recently read this little tidbit from Jeremy Frey:

Wow, you want to lose weight? Eat protein with every meal, limit your carbs to around your training, make sure that on days off you back down your carbs by half, and don’t worry about fat because I’m guessing you get enough.

Calorie burn: 200-300 kcals.

I know you are trying to be super scientific with this, and I can appreciate that… but at the end of the day, follow the simple guide of higher protein, vary carbs around training and off days, and take in good fats. And, of course, EAT CLEAN!

– Jeremy Frey

I’ve been trying to follow this sort of protocol for ages, but somehow this wording just sits better and gives me a clear and simple protocol. So I’ve been trying this for the past well, almost week. I try to get about 1g protein per pound of lean bodyweight on workout days, allow myself carbs on workout days, mostly centered around my gym time (since it’s in the morning, after lunchtime I pretty much cut out the carbs), and on my non-workout days strive for no carbs but given how things eat around the house here that doesn’t get to no carbs but certainly a LOT less than normal.

It was rough over the weekend… my body started to scream at me for carbs. Funny thing is I tried having 1 beer and didn’t get through 2 sips before my body said “no thank you”. I did find another way, but kept it measured and light, and that was enough.

And now? I’ve got this horrible taste in my mouth that won’t go away, and my pee smells funny. Could this be the start of ketosis? Not sure….

But given all that, I finally opted to by Keifer’s Carb Back Loading book. I’ve been reading a lot of stuff about it for many months, and from what I can tell it’s pretty legit and works well for folks, especially doing what I’m doing — that is, lifting and living life, not just sitting in front of the computer and tv all day and night but still wants to lose weight. My problem has been that I read the basics of CBL, it talks about working out in the late afternoon, how to adapt for morning workouts has received mixed responses (even from Keifer himself, but likely that’s due to time and refinement of protocol).. and I just always got hung up on it. Well, I realize that I’ve missed a lot of the concepts because I focused on the wrong thing. So, buy the book, read it, and well… we’ll see.

Maybe next month

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Alas, didn’t make it out to my first IDPA match this past weekend. Older 2 kiddos were sick, so I had to be Dad. Not a problem of course, family first. So it just meant more dry fire practice instead. Oh well… these things happen.

Just as well tho. I registered for an IDPA membership but haven’t heard anything back. I’ve tried contacting IDPA but received no response. It’s possible they have responded, but nothing by US Mail and maybe spam-filters caught email and I cleaned out the filters too quickly and missed it. I figure maybe start of the year, SHOT Show, they just were swamped. I’ll ping them next week and see.

Lead by example

/ hsoi

“These anti-gun politicians were not elected to positions of royalty,” [Alan Gottlieb, executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation] said. “They are citizens, with no more rights than any other citizen. They were elected to serve the public, not treat the public like serfs. If they want us to put our safety at risk, they should drop the pretense and give up their guns and guards before daring to suggest that anyone else do the same.”

 Full story.

But Alan, the story of the 15-year old boy that defended himself and his 12-year old sister with an AR-15? That actually happened back in 2010. Doesn’t negate the point, just keeping dates straight.

2013-01-11 training log

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 16, week 1

  • Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 355#)
    • 1x5x145 (warmup)
    • 1x5x185
    • 1x3x215
    • 1x5x235 (work)
    • 1x5x270
    • 1x8x305
  • Asst. #1 – Good Mornings
    • 3 x 12 x 105
  • Asst. #2 – Pulldown Abs (kneeling)
    • 3 x 15 x 130
  • sled drags
    • 10 runs, 75 yards each
    • 75# on the sled
    • 30 seconds rest every other run
    • attach sled around hips, walk forward with large, purposeful strides
  • Foam Rolling

I do need to work on my posterior chain. No question it’s a weak point. So my assistance work is important here. That said, I only did what I did because I was beat — the deadlifts took a lot out of me. Plus I was bent on getting back to dragging the sled.

So all felt good. I know I’m going to be sore from this one. 🙂

What should we be doing right about now?

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

With all the talk of gun banning, collapse of our Constitutionally guarded rights, potentials for civil unrest… well….

Take a cue from The Suburban Dad Survivalist on how we should be behaving:

  1. Respect the Constitution.
  2. Pray for our leaders, even if you don’t agree with them.  Pray for God to heal our collective souls.  Pray for wisdom for yourself.
  3. Educate yourself and others.
  4. Remember you get more flies with honey than you do vinegar.
  5. Be vigilant about what’s going on in the news and in politics.  Stay on top of current events.
  6. Reach out to those who disagree with you.  Build relationships with them.  Let them see you are not a bad person or a nut job.
  7. Value truth.  Don’t hide from facts.
  8. Prepare for the possibility of more difficult times ahead, for you and your family.
  9. Support candidates who espouse your values.  This means supporting their campaigns financially.  It also means reaching out to them to let them know what’s on your mind.
  10. Be a nice person.  Don’t be a jerk, even if someone else is being a jerk to you.  Set a good example.

Emphasis on that last one: be nice.

America’s problem isn’t guns – it’s gangs

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Chicago’s murder numbers have hit that magic 500. Baltimore’s murder toll has passed 200. In Philly, it’s up to 324, the highest since 2007. In Detroit, it’s approaching 400, another record. In New Orleans, it’s almost at 200. New York City is down to 414 from 508. In Los Angeles, it’s over 500. In St. Louis it’s 113 and 130 in Oakland. It’s 121 in Memphis and 76 in Birmingham.

Washington, D.C., home of the boys and girls who can solve it all, is nearing its own big 100.

Those 12 cities alone account for nearly 3,200 dead and nearly a quarter of all murders in the United States. And we haven’t even visited sunny Atlanta or chilly Cleveland.

Read the full story here. (h/t Tom Givens)

Really, go read the story. While the Obama-bashing and editorializing detract some from the article, the facts and data presented in the article are undeniable, as is the conclusion.

Furthermore, it demonstrates that any sort of “gun control” legislation will be ineffective because most of the people perpetuating gun violence are criminals to begin with and won’t obey your laws.

So again, mind your data. Think about these deeper root causes of violence (like in Austin). Work to address those deeper issues, those actual root causes.

 

Mind your data

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

This video has been floating around for a little while, and I finally got to watch it:

So if want to go back to the City of Austin wanting to ban gun shows thinking it will reduce violent crime, well, like I said, you have to look deeper.

I’ve looked at crime data before, like the City of Austin’s crime data.

A look at the 2009 FBI crime data and how it’s going down, but 6% of the murders used no weapon at all.

In a backlog clearing, I pointed to the 2011 semi-annual FBI crime stats, showing violent crime in the US is way down. What’s interesting about this is the speculation as to why crime is down. It shows it’s a VERY complex issue, and why it’s difficult to compare countries when talking “gun policy” because the social structure, cultural norms, and so many other things are different from country to country. With so many factors in the equation, comparing countries is like comparing apples to horses.

Folks, take a cue from the maker of the above video. Stop getting your information from obviously biased sources. Yes, that even means from the NRA, because they too have a strong agenda. Look at the raw data itself. Or do like Howard Nemerov did and take your data “from the other side” to show how their own data doesn’t even hold up and in fact supports their opponent.

Alas, what makes this a difficult discussion to have is one side is based upon emotions and irrational thinking. It’s hard to have a discussion in such a context. Policy based upon emotion only leads to greater problems. We need to think clearly, understand facts and data, and make future plans and policies based upon rational thought, not emotional agenda.