Megadeth’s latest: “Post American World”
Sunday Metal – Megadeth
Megadeth’s latest: “Post American World”
Author: hsoi
Texas AG files lawsuit against the City of Austin
Official copy of the lawsuit can be found here.
It’s simple.
The City of Austin continues to violate state law.
They were asked, they were warned. The city officials obviously know the law, yet they continue to defy the law, so now the city is being sued.
Look — you don’t have to like the particulars of the law, but the law is the law. Who does this hurt? Not just the law abiding citizens of Texas, but it hurts the citizens of Austin because where do these fines come from? Where does the money come from to handle this lawsuit? The taxpayers.
We’re taxed enough.
The city’s budget is strapped enough.
It’s a flagrant disregard not just for the rule of law, but for responsible stewardship of city resources because this was entirely preventable by just obeying the law.
I mean, we plebeians are expected to obey the law. And if we don’t, we are held accountable. I’m not sure why the Mayor and City Council think they can disregard the law. Not being a very good role model for the children… 🙂
Let’s see if the City opts to be responsible and resolve this quickly, or if they’re going to stretch this out, fight a losing battle, and cost the city thousands upon thousands of dollars. Again, you don’t have to like the law. Heck, expect them to use the money not on fines for disobeying but perhaps towards getting the law changed! That’d be a more responsible use of the money.
Bottom line: Austin taxpayers should be upset that their Mayor and City Council show a flagrant disrespect for the law they are supposed to execute, and in doing so are going to cost the city thousands upon thousands of dollars.
2016-07-29 training log
Huzzah! Deload is over. 😉
I’m happy for it, as it really was a good break and recovery time. But one thing that comes out of it? I really am not sure I can keep doing pull-ups. The amount of stress it seems to be putting on my shoulders and elbows is a lot. Frankly, that bums me out as it’s been so awesome to not suck (as much) at pull-ups any more. I’m going to keep going for a bit as I already have some changes planned to try to reduce some of the joint stress, so I want to see how those go before I make a full switch. But it’s on my mind.
anyways, that’s that.
Feeling energized and ready to get back into it.
5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template
- Press
- bar x whatever
- 60 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
- 60 x 5
- 75 x 5
- 75 x 5 (work sets superset with pull-ups)
- 90 x 5
- 90 x 5
- Close-Grip Bench Press
- 85 x 5 (sets superset with pull-ups)
- 105 x 5
- 125 x 5
- V-Bar Pulldowns
- 110 x 12
- 110 x 12
- Face Pulls
- 100 x 12
- 100 x 12
- Lying Triceps Extensions
- 60 x 12
- 60 x 12
- Close-grip EZ-bar Curls
- 55 x 12
- 55 x 12
2016-07-28 training log
Again, it’s deload week.
And you know what? I’m really glad I took it. My joints and everything are feeling really good. I can only wonder how I’d feel if I did go the additional 3 weeks.
So, huzzah.
Nothing else much to report. It’s just a deload day.
5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template
- Deadlift
- 135 x 5
- 135 x 5
- 165 x 5
- 165 x 5
- 195 x 5
- 195 x 5
- Front Squat
- 95 x 5
- 115 x 5
- 140 x 5
- Elevated Glute Bridges
- BW x 12
- BW x 12
- Crunches
- BW x 12
- BW x 12
- Seated Calf Raises
- 35 x 12
- 35 x 12
The Cost
…our priorities should always be:
- Avoid,
- Escape,
- Confront,
- Resist
When we jump to Confront and Resist before we absolutely need to, we’re being emotionally hijacked by the situation, our pasts, our current influences, and our egos. Allowing an emotional hijacking is no more a recipe for success than going along with any other kidnapping attempt. There’s always going to be a very high cost.
Internet common-taters take note; it’s not you who will pay the cost, so STFU.
Claude Werner once again nails it. There’s a cost involved in killing someone – and it goes far deeper than you may have ever considered.
The cost is not only borne by the individual who does the shooting but also by their family. At some point their children are going to go to school and one of their classmates is going to taunt them with ‘my daddy says your daddy is a murderer!’ No matter how justifiable the shooting may be, someone in the community who feels that self-defense is an unacceptable concept will express their feelings to their children and the children will pass it on to your children.
Yup.
There are legal costs. There are financial costs. But there are also personal, emotional, psychological, reputation, jobs, social, relationships… there are many costs.
Going to guns should be the last resort. We should do all we can to avoid, deter, deescalate, escape. When you truly consider the costs, those are all far cheaper options.
Perception is not reality
There is half as much crime in the US right now as there was about 25 years ago. Both violent and property crime have declined pretty steadily since the early 1990s.
But Americans are more concerned about crime now than they have been since 2001.
[…]
But the massive disconnect between what crime rates actually are and what many Americans think they are shows two things. One is that in general, Americans think large societal issues are getting way worse than they actually are.
Full story (from Vox) h/t Seth Anderson Bailey.
So the reality is crime is down, and pretty much at an all-time low. Crime still happens in great numbers, but nowhere near as much as you think.
But yet, people think things are worse.
Why might that be?
Could it be due to the news media? The 24/7 need for blood in the headlines? When one thing happens in some remote part of the world, someone decides it’s “newsworthy” and suddenly it’s the story dominating all media outlets for the next week?
Hooray Internet.
Hooray the “always connected” lifestyle.
Hooray for the fear-mongers.
Hooray for those that profit from all of this.
Perception is not reality.
Look beyond the headlines. Look at the Truth.
Don’t believe the hype.
2016-07-26 training log
Deloading. Not much exciting to say. 🙂
But a few comments:
Accidentally tucked my feet more than usual while benching. That’s been a problem for me in the past because it really caused my butt to lift, but not so today. I think because I’m finding the direction of my drive is different — more up into my head, instead of up off the bench. That said, I’m not sure the tuck gets me as much. Still, was interesting to play with and I’ll probably continue to play with this a bit.
I am wondering if I may need to stop pull-ups for a bit. I think above all things they are what’s making my elbows hate life. Ugh. But that said, today I found that if I pulled my elbows in — as if I was trying to touch them together while pulling myself up — that seemed to make my joints not feel as stressed. I need to explore that a bit more. It’s not a huge change, not actually trying to touch them, just not letting them flare out, y’know?
To that, I also think I may ditch the overhead extensions for the same reason. Stupid elbows.
5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template
- Bench Press
- bar x whatever
- 95 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
- 95 x 5
- 115 x 5
- 115 x 5 (work sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
- 140 x 5
- 140 x 5
- Incline Press
- 85 x 5 (sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
- 105 x 5
- 125 x 5
- Cable Rows
- 100 x 12
- 100 x 12
- Shrugs
- 205 x 12
- 205 x 12
- Overhead Triceps Extensions (superset with curls)
- 60 x 12
- 60 x 12
- Hammer Curls (alternate, across body)
- 25e x 12
- 25e x 12
2016-07-25 training log
Sometimes you just have to listen to your body.
I was all set to start another cycle, to go 9 weeks before deloading. But when I woke up this morning I just wasn’t feeling it. I stepped back, looked at everything, and in the end opted to take this week as a deload. I’m getting all excited by the momentum, about being back on track, all those things, and I’m just excited to keep going. Well, if I want to keep going for the long run, I need to pace myself. There have also been other things going on in my life that are affecting my recovery, so it’s best for me to deload now. I’ll hate it, but if the whole week I’m just anxious to get back at things, that’s a good sign. 🙂
So, did the deload per protocol, cut assistance work “in half”, and just got some work in. Nothing big, but honestly I felt really good afterwards — like it was just what the doctor ordered. So, probably a smart thing for me to just run 6-week cycles and take the deload like it or not.
Weight has been holding steady at 230. That will be a bit of a challenge this week, but I just need to keep carb intake under control and I should be OK.
5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template
- Squats
- bar x whatever
- 110 x 5
- 110 x 5
- 135 x 5
- 135 x 5
- 165 x 5
- 165 x 5
- Straight-leg Deadlift
- 135 x 5
- 150 x 5
- 175 x 5
- Leg Curls
- 30 x 12
- 30 x 12
- Hyperextensions
- BW x 10
- BW x 10
- Crunches
- BW x 10
- BW x 10
- Standing Calf Raises
- 50 x 10
- 50 x 10
Sunday Metal – In This Moment
In This Moment “Blood”
The importance of being honest with yourself (and setting ego aside)
Had a long weekend at KR Training: July 16 was a Basic Pistol 2 and Defensive Pistol 1, and July 17 was a Basic Pistol 2… yes again. Classes have been selling pretty well.
I want to depart from my usual “class AAR”. I mean, what we see out of these classes from a skills perspective tends to be the same thing every time. So if you were in one of these classes and are curious about skills, just hit the Search field and read what you find.
What I want to talk about is – self-assessment.
It is vital in life to be (brutally) honestly aware of yourself, your skills, your abilities, your level, your capabilities, your limits, your strengths, your weaknesses. It’s the only way to truly achieve your goals.
We had a couple people in the BP2 class that were scheduled to stay for the DPS1 class. As BP2 progressed, it was evident that DPS1 was not going to happen for them: just too much to handle. We gave them feedback, but they also took a step back and looked at themselves and opted to skip DPS1 and come back later. I’m not sure what they will do exactly (maybe take BP2 again, maybe take some private lessons), but I am proud of them for making an honest self-assessment and doing the right thing. They set ego aside and made an honest and wise choice. In the long run, this is going to pay dividends.
There’s another gentleman that’s been around for some time. He’s taken many classes with us, and BP2/DPS1 are “below him”. But he still takes them (again) because he knows he has things to work on, skills to learn, and that he can improve – and that these classes will help him get there. His honesty, his humility, that serves him well towards progress and improvement.
Don’t feel you need to always move on to the next class, just because you’re supposed to, or especially because you just want to. If you take a class before you’re ready, you’ll just be frustrated and won’t learn. There is nothing wrong with taking the same class again; in fact, now that you’ll know the material, you’ll be able to focus on other aspects of the class, including putting more effort into the drills and really letting the material sink in. Remember the maxim: redundancy fosters learning. Taking a class multiple times, that’s redundancy, and it will lead to (improved) learning.
After you finish a class, let things digest. Take a step back. Self-assess where you are. See where you are now relative to where you were: both where you really were and where you thought you were. Now look where you want to go. Will taking the next class be the way to get there? or could taking 1-2 steps back serve you better in the long run towards achieving your goal? It all depends upon your goals, of course. But the more honest you are in your self-assessment, the willingness to put ego aside, THAT is what will help you achieve your goals in the long run.
Train hard, train smart.
Stuff From Hsoi 