Author: hsoi

Yes, there is hope!

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Dinner is done.

The table needs cleaning off. The children are supposed to be cleaning, but are farting around and wrestling with each other. Wife is getting irritated. Yes the kids are all in a good mood, and we really don’t want to dampen it with Threat Of Dad® coming down upon them. So instead, I opt to bribe provide positive reinforcement to the children.

Ice cream.

Going out for it, no less. Wife requested a little peaceful time to herself, so I’ll happily take the kids away so she can have her Calgon moment.

I told the kids: clean the table and kitchen to Mom’s satisfaction, then tend to the litter box. You have 15 minutes. And I walked away.

These kids are moving. They set a timer. Oldest started delegating tasks. They are focused. They are cooperating. I just heard Oldest holler for Middle, “I need some help!” “OK, I’m coming.” Wow… no smart-assery, no belligerence, no nothing. Just the stuff that parental dreams are made of!! 🙂

I just heard “OK, we have 5 minutes left.”. I’m not sure, but it sounds like they are going above and beyond, cleaning even a bit more!! Are they wanting sprinkles on top of their ice cream? Oldest is barking orders. There’s no “You’re not the boss of me!” retort, just a simple “OK.” and obeying of the command. Wow….

Is it a bribe? Is it positive motivation? Call it whatever you want. I know the true power of this moment. You see, now I have tangible proof they are totally capable of working together, as a streamlined unit, cooperating, focused, efficient, on task, without back-talk, without fighting, without a need for Dad to intervene and put things back on course. Yes… yes I will hold this against them in the future. 🙂

And get this. 2 minutes left. They come in my office and give a successful report. So this is another thing… they can get things done early!  Man, they don’t realize how they’ve been set up… how high they just raised the bar for themselves. *insert diabolical fatherly laugh* 🙂

 

Updated: I should clarify, it’s not like my kids are normally misbehaved, disobedient, fight with each other, etc.. They’re actually quite well-behaved and do work well with each other. But, they are like any kid, they do have their sibling issues, they do have their moments of sheer jackassery. But still, tonight was sweet.

And sweet it was. I am still waiting for their Guinness ice cream to come back into rotation. A cup of that, some chocolate chunks crushed in. People I’m telling you there’s nothing finer. Had to settle (if you can call it that) for Mexican vanilla with fresh strawberries crushed in. Mmm.

Sobering facts

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

Thanx to Xavier for bringing this to my attention.

I would love to get a hold of the full report. If you have a copy and/or know how to get it (my Google-Fu has been weak today), please let me know.

The facts presented are sobering:

  • Handguns are the weapon of choice. None are obtained by “legal” means and no laws stop them from obtaining the gun; in fact, they laugh in the face of gun laws.
  • Many offenders have formal training (e.g. military) and most practice on average at least bi-weekly.
    • Their training is motivated by thinking police practice a lot. In reality, police don’t practice much at all. Just because their job requires them to carry a gun doesn’t mean they’re proficient with them.
  • Offenders don’t use holsters, but they do have backup weapons.
  • Offenders have a cold-blooded mindset. They have no problem killing you and killing you first.

And there are many more. Go read.

And I have to agree with Xaiver:

“They practice getting the gun out and using it,” Davis explained. “They shoot for effect.” Or as one of the offenders put it: “[W]e’re not working with no marksmanship… We just putting it in your direction, you know… It don’t matter… as long as it’s gonna hit you…if it’s up at your head or your chest, down at your legs, whatever… Once I squeeze and you fall, then… if I want to execute you, then I could go from there.”

Those are some chilling words. Remember them when you practice. Train like you fight, and you’ll fight like you train.

Science remains in Texas, sorta.

/ hsoi

The Texas State Board of Education voted 7-7 on restoring a rule that “strengths and weaknesses” of all scientific theory be taught in public school science classes. The vote, failing to pass, means the doors to teaching creationism as scientific theory remain closed.

Frankly, I’m torn on this.

Should strengths and weakness be taught? Hell yes. Should evolution be taught? Hell yes. Should “creation stories” be taught? Hell yes. Should Intelligent Design be taught? Hell no. Allow me to explain.

In my opinion, Intelligent Design is a disingenuous concept. It’s not a scientific theory, it’s a religious effort masquerading as science in some sort of zealous effort to wedge Christian theology into the science classroom. I don’t appreciate this. Call it what it really is, present it for what it really is. Trying to do this really doesn’t win anyone over to your cause, since you’re twisting and lying. But hey, if you want to further this notion of “Intelligent Design” then you better talk about The Flying Spaghetti Monster as well.

Should we teach all approaches to how life, the Earth, the universe was created? Yes we should. Why? Because ultimately we don’t know. Every approach has as much chance to be wrong as the others. The more that we can know, the better off we can be. I personally find my life better off the greater variety I know about. Variety is the spice of life, right? We seem to dig 31 flavors, not 1 flavor, yes? And just because you can know about all 31 flavors, you can still favor just one of those flavors. So why can’t you know about how the ancient Egyptians viewed the creation of the world? What harm does that do? What help does that do?

I frankly think that if we’re going to provide people with an education, those people are better served by the more they can know. Too little knowledge can be dangerous, but I just don’t think too much knowledge being dangerous. So let them learn about Darwin. Let them learn about the Judeo-Christian creation stories. Let them learn how tribal cultures view things. Just let them learn. In this learning, present things as they are. You can present religious matters from a purely academic standpoint, although you do have to allow them to be treated academically. Present all possible theories, all possible stories, explore them, question them, seek to understand them and see how they fit into the greater human experience and deciphering of our great life mysteries. Let people learn…. freely, unabridged.

Little things

/ hsoi

I can’t remember where exactly I read this (and my Google-Fu is weak tonight), but I’m pretty sure it was either in Suzi’s blog or Ron’s blog. S or R was talking about little things and how wonderful they were. That time together didn’t have to mean going out on some extravagant date. One was saying how the other needed to go down to the corner store to put gas in the car and asked to go with. Sure it wasn’t an extravagant date, but it was time together. 

I shared that with The Wife and since then we’ve been doing little things like that. Walk down to the mailbox with each other. Walk around the block. Run a quick errand. Whatever works. We’re even doing it with the kids, Oldest, Middle, and Youngest. I need to run to the store, go with me. I need to fix the sink, come watch. You’re reading your book? I’m reading my book. Come sit next to me and let’s read together.

Sometimes lots of little things adds up to more than just a few large things, y’know?

Little Lady

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

A buddy of mine came to me a few days ago asking for help getting started with firearms. He’s shot a little bit, his wife hasn’t shot anything. Apparently wife’s friend took some sort of introduction to firearms course and had a great experience, relayed that to wife, now wife is interested, so husband/buddy came to me for some guidance on how to get started.

Since we don’t live in the same state I did the best I could to offer some generic guidance towards finding a worthwhile instructor: questions to ask, the sorts of things to look for, etc..  And I hate to say it, but since his wife was involved my gut feeling was for them to seek out a female instructor. Why? I didn’t want them to risk getting the “Here lil’ lady, let me help you with that” sort of mentality. Or saying that “Oh for you, Hon, you want a little snub-nosed J-frame .38… but Hubby he can have a big-ass 1911 .45” sort of bullshit.

Here’s a fantastic write up on this very problem.  Caleb offers his comments on the write-up, as does Tam. TXGunGeek posted on this same topic just a little while ago.

Children and guns

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Kellene is starting a 4 part series on children and guns. I’ll update this as she posts each part:

  1. Part 1 – Want to Ensure Your Kid Never Commits a Gun Crime? GIVE Him a Gun. (how about giving her a gun too?)
  2. Part 2 — The Myth of Gun Safety.
  3. Part 3 — When Is It Safe to Educate Your Children on Guns?
  4. Part 4 — What’s Really Responsible for the Deaths of Our Nation’s Children?

Kathy Jackson also has a great section on her website about kids and guns. 

I ran into this last week during a beginners pistol class. One student asked about how to deal with kids and guns; he had a 3 year old and an 8 year old. He told me his first thought was to keep the gun a secret and not tell the kids. In my opinion the better thing to do is to tell the kids. Make no bones about the gun, make no mystery about the gun. Make the gun a plain and boring thing; even better, take your kid shooting and teach them about gun safety and how to property use a gun. I’ve said before that we find education to be the right answer for keeping our kids safe from so many things, yet somehow we think ignorance about guns is the right approach. I fail to follow that logic. I think we ought to be consistent here: educate your kids as much as possible about guns. That will keep them safe.  Of course, for this one student, I said this really only applies to the 8 year old. For the 3 year old, you’re just going to have to take steps (e.g. a GunVault or better, get your CHL and just carry the gun on your hip all the time). But when the younger child is old enough, teach them too.

Updated: Kellene just posted part 2, added the link above.

Updated 2: Part 3 was just added. Kellene makes a good distinction here. There’s teaching your children about the notion of guns and being safe with them, then there’s teaching your children how to use them. I’ve blogged on this before, here and here.

Updated 3: Part 4 added. I don’t totally agree with her take here because I do think you can draw the line between toy guns and real guns, between playing and “for real”. However, I do agree that the mindset needs to be there no matter the gun, toy or real. Even when they are playing, they can still understand and apply correct behaviors (e.g. minding the trigger finger). There can and still should be parental supervision. Even if they are playing and violate something you can and should take the time to correct them. Mindset matters a great deal, and if you can provide your children with the right mindset, with the right knowledge and skills and ability to make the right decisions, that’s going to serve your children best.

Ancient modern combatives

/ hsoi

James over at Hell In A Handbasket has a great video comparing and contrasting modern military combatives against Renaissance combatives. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Honestly, this doesn’t surprise me too much to see. The body can only move in so many ways, you can work against the body in only so many ways, and in the end it’s all either a push, a pull, or a twist. It’s not like it’s possible to suddenly discover some new way the body moves or doesn’t move and thus invent some new attack vector. When you get down to it, all martial arts ultimately teach the same stuff, the same movements, the same techniques; what differs is mentality, focus, approach, philosophy.

But still, it’s a neat video to watch.