Me

Guns and church

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Arkansas’s House just passed a bill approving concealed carry in church.

I applaud this. Texas’ concealed carry laws originally prohibited carry in church but the law changed to allow it (unless, like any place they post a valid 30.06 sign). 

Like I said before, having such laws only stop the law-abiding good guys. The law-breaking bad guys don’t care. The wolves will roam where they please, especially to places where it’s easy to pick off the sheep. Laws don’t erect magical force-fields to keep out the bad guys. 

From the article:

Rep. Steven Breedlove, D-Greenwood, a minister at the Valley View Church of Christ, said allowing concealed handguns won’t stop someone from opening fire inside a church.

“Ronald Reagan was completely surrounded by armed guards and he was still shot,” Breedlove said. “And that is why we must put our faith in God and not put our faith in something else … Let us keep the sanctity of churches and put our faith in God and not in guns.”

No, it won’t stop someone bent on crazy. John Hinckley Jr. was crazy. A minister should know that bad things can happen to good people and we can’t stop it all. And although a subject of much debate, it seems rather a Christian thing to defend yourself and others.

Self-defense may actually result in one of the greatest examples of human love. Christ Himself said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:14). When protecting one’s family or neighbor, a Christian is unselfishly risking his or her life for the sake of others.

Theologians J. P. Moreland and Norman Geisler say that “to permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong. To allow a rape when one could have hindered it is an evil. To watch an act of cruelty to children without trying to intervene is morally inexcusable. In brief, not resisting evil is an evil of omission, and an evil of omission can be just as evil as an evil of commission. Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally.”

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2265 Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility.

So while allowing good people to possess useful tools wherever they man roam may not stop crazy, it can act as a deterrent and discourager, and at least give you a fighting chance. Yea, it even appears to be a moral obligation.

I agree. Do not put your faith in an inanimate object — a gun. But perhaps you can have faith that God might be guiding some to do His will, to be the sheepdogs helping The Shepherd guard his flock. Just ask Jeanna Assam.

 

Update: Robb chimes in with his take on the matter.

Oh grow up

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Once again, I’m with you Lissa.

My mother is Korean, my father is “white” (German, Scotch-Irish). I took zero offense to this. Why? Because there’s no offense intended. Look at the picture…. all the white kids are squinty and the one Asian kid is round-eyed. Looks like nothing but a bunch of friends having fun and being silly. If the Asian kid in the picture isn’t offended (and in fact is playing along), why the hell should you be? Oh that’s right… he’s not the one hoping to milk Miley Cyrus for a $4B payout.

Is it playing on a racial difference? Sure. But being offensive requires intent to harm. I recall one time as a kid some other kid came up to me, made some Asian-like faces, flailed his arms, and made “ching-chong” sorts of sounds at me. Did that bother me? Sure did, because the kid’s intent was to make fun of me and hurt me. In high school a Korean friend and I would always joke back and forth about being a “rice eater”, he’d call me a “half-breed” and I’d call him “slant eyes” or some such thing. Did this bother us? Nope, because it was all in fun with no intent to harm.

Look folks, racial/cultural humor can be funny (Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, Mel Brooks, Jeff Foxworthy), or not (Margaret Cho – sorry, while I get her Korean jokes on a whole other level, I just don’t find her all that entertaining). You have to look at intent. Is it intended to be funny? or is it intended to harm? Causing harm to another, even by word or gesture, isn’t acceptable. But it appears all Miley did was have some fun with her friends.

Ki Bohn Soo

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Probably my favorite technique set in Kuk Sool is the first set: Ki Bohn Soo.

(You can turn down/off the sound if you wish… you’ll only lose the 70’s disco soundtrack).

While it’s a set learned at white belt, you have to remember the translation: Fundamental/Foundational Techniques. These 15 techniques are designed to teach basic principles: of body mechanics (how your opponent’s body does and doesn’t work), body positioning (where to place your body relative to your opponent), balance (keeping yours, disrupting your opponent’s). It also teaches you basics of how to move, and even basic gross motions that with repetition can just come to you when you need it. No they’re not necessarily techinques for street fighting, but knowing them well can help you out (when I do pressure/aliveness drills from a standing position, I find myself utilizing #9 quite often). And in theory, being the first set you learn they’ll be the motions that you do more than any other. This is what foundations are all about, and Ki Bohn Soo gives you that solid foundation.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, all the advanced cool flashy stuff in anything you do is nice, but if you don’t have fundamentals, the flash is worthless. I’d rather spend my time working to master fundamentals than doing really advanced and difficult but marginally useful stuff.

One thing that’s nice about this particular video is the man performing the techniques is SUH In Hyuk, founder of Kuk Sool Won. Point being, high level accomplished individual. I enjoy watching high level accomplished folks performing fundamentals because it helps you get better at the fundamentals. Watch this video now. Go practice, go to class and learn more. In a year, come back and watch the video again and I’m sure you’ll catch subtle things that you were unaware of before. Watch the video again in 5 years, and again you’ll catch subtle things that you missed before. And if this improves your fundamentals, if it strengthens your foundation, everything built on top of that will get stronger.

Anonymity

/ hsoi

The Sad Necessity of Anonymity, from Xavier.

The only thing I see wrong with the picture is she’s certainly violating rule #2 and thus rule #1 (doesn’t seem to be violating #3 and #4 is arguable). 

One reason I debated having a blog is because I know how people can be. Xavier hits it on the head about why many gun bloggers blog anonymously. The sad thing is, it’s out of fear — a justified fear, but a fear nonetheless.

I have opted to not live in that fear and make it clear who I am. If I’m going to say something, I’m going to stand behind my words and stand up for myself. Might it get me in trouble? It might. Might I piss some people off? I might. Might some people be “shocked” to hear such things from me, thinking they knew me? They might. Might I lose some friends, I might. But go ahead and judge me, I can’t stop you. All I can do is continue to be me. Be honest, have integrity, be patient, be devoted. If I suffer for my actions, I just have to have faith that it’s all for a greater good. And the best I can hope for is that folks would be willing to engage me in discourse and at least make an informed choice instead of an ignorant snap judgment.

Report To State

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

This morning is the Texas Boy Scouts annual Report To State Parade. Every year during February (the month of Scouting’s birth in the United States), Scouts from all around Texas converge on the state capitol.

For one day, downtown Austin becomes a sea of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturers and Sea Scouts from all over Texas marching down Congress Avenue to the Capitol. From there, special Scout delegates from each council in the state go to the floor of the House of Representatives and report to member of the state government about Scouting activities from the past year, and plans for the future. The Capitol Area Council’s organization and execution of this program has become the standard for other councils across the country. It is a unique opportunity for the Scouts that take part.

I’ve done this numerous times in the past when my older son was a Scout, and now I’m doing it again with my younger son as a Scout. While the morning is long and boring because you do a lot of waiting for your turn to walk, it’s really cool to see Scouts from all around the state, their floats, where they’re from. It’s actually pretty neat. It’s also cool to watch the kids, because now they get to be in a parade, and that’s pretty neat for them. Weather should be nice too. Of course, I am going on about 4 hours of sleep….

 

Update: Back from the parade. Good turnout. Was a lot of fun. As an unexpected bit of fun, Austin Chief of Police, Art Acevedo happened to be by our float while we were waiting to go. He hopped into the trailer with the boys and had a little fun with my son. Unfortunately I cannot figure out how to get WordPress to embed this video, so you’ll just have to click here in order to see it.

Concert memories

/ hsoi

Music has always been a part of my life, be it performing it or listening to it. I’ve played piano, violin, trumpet, french horn, guitar, a little bit of bass and drums. I’ve played in rock bands; played my acoustic guitar on the street in Denton, TX; various jam sessions; was in “band” from 5th grade through 8th with trumpet, and 11th and 12th I played french horn; I was drum major in marching band my senior year. I’ve actually had thoughts about picking up the french horn again — of all the instruments I played it was probably the most expressive and versatile. I recall in high school playing in a woodwind quintet, and that was a lot of fun… playing with 4 gorgeous girls didn’t hurt either. 🙂

Then there’s all the concerts I’ve been to. I can’t remember them all, but I’ve seen Mötley Crüe a number of times, White Zombie, Pantera, Wrathchild America, Cyclone Temple, Last Crack, Kix, Sepultura, Sacred Reich, Sick of it All, Napalm Death, Corrosion of Conformity, Down, Crowbar, Alabama Thunderpussy, Suplecs, Warrant, Judas Priest, Heaven & Hell, Motörhead, Testament, Stu Hamm, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, White Trash, Lucy Brown, Kage, Dave Matthews Band (before they were signed), Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Coup De Grace, Scorpions, Trixter, Great White, Child’s Play, Trouble, G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band, Aerosmith, 4 Non Blondes, Collective Soul, and I know there’s been many many more. 

So tonight I’m going to see Tesla in concert. I saw them the last time they came through Austin about a year and a half ago and they were awesome. They are not a washed up ’80s band trying to reclaim their former glory. They still make albums, they still tour, and they seem to grok the whole Internet thing and know how to work with it instead of fighting against it. I’m happy to support them.

Thing is, all day long I’ve been excited about going to the show and I found myself reverting back to my old high school concert-going habits. Things like how you have to listen to the band all day long. Of course when you’re driving to the show, you have to have their music cranked. What clothing am I going to wear? Why my Tesla t-shirt of course, and jeans. I’ve been thinking about how much cash I need to bring so I can buy a t-shirt. As the story goes: “An old hesher once told me that you gotta get the best shirt because they only come around once.” 😀   And then of course, you MUST wear the shirt to school the next day to prove to everything that you were there.

Ever hear of Heavy Metal Parking Lot?

I grew up in the Washington D.C. area, and I was just at that right age when this documentary was made. It brings back so many memories. So many shows seen at The Capital Centre. Man, that was a time.

The filmmaker, Jeff Krulik, used to have all of his movies available for free on his website, but no longer. You can buy the DVD of HMPL (which I have done, and it’s pretty funny to see some of the people today, especially Zebraman), and I managed to find the full video here, tho who knows how long it’ll remain.

Rock on!

No office, not bad

/ hsoi

Being a software engineer I’m fortunate that my job can be performed anywhere in the world… so long as I’ve got a computer and an Internet connection. As a result, I’m happy to work from home and telecommute full time.

While there certainly are disadvantages to not being in the office, there are also advantages. IM’ing with an office-bound co-worker this morning he tells me about 1. some new computer that another engineering group brought into the office for testing something (dunno what, but apparently the fans are wicked loud), 2. someone had a potpourri thing in the office yesterday and it stunk the place up so bad they had to ask her to remove it. Ah, the joys of the cube farm. The sounds I get are those of my wife and kids working and playing, and the smells of my wife’s cooking. This is quite the advantage. 🙂

This weekend

/ hsoi

The weekend’s not yet here but already I can’t not think about it.

Tomorrow night going to see Tesla in concert. I’ve seen them live before and it was excellent. They’ve got talent and ability, thus why they’ve always kept going and didn’t die off after the ’80s were over. I think their “Into The Now” album (2004) is one of their best. Just a damn good rock band.

Then I get home from the concert, get a couple hours of sleep, and then it’s off to the Boy Scouts of America Texas Report To State Parade. My younger son is a Tiger Cub and I’m a Den Leader (again), so we get to head downtown and walk down Congress Avenue with thousands of other Scouts from around the state. It’s actually really neat to see Scouts from all over, and the kids always enjoy being in a parade as well as seeing all the floats and other Scouts. 

And I’m sure I’ll have a honey-do list to tend to afterwards, and a nap. 😉

Should be a fun weekend.