Fritata

I usually make a breakfast at night to take to work the next morning, which I then microwave after PT.  It's not as good a freshly made hot breakfast, but it's still better than eating at the chow hall.  It's healthier, too.  Even if I buy an omelet - which is about the healthiest breakfast I can get there - it's still fried in vegetable oil.

My typical breakfast, ever since watching how to make one on Food Network, is a 4-egg fritata with veggies and bacon.  Fritatas are great because you can use pretty much anything you have in the fridge.  This one has red and green bell peppers, red and green onions, two slices of bacon, black pepper, chili powder and a tiny bit of milk.

The first few I made I burned on the bottom.  Then I figured out it's best to not really cook the eggs on the stove.  Now I cook the bacon and veggies on the stove, pour the eggs in and immediately put the whole skillet in the oven and broil it for a a minute or two.  That's why I prefer to use the stainless steel skillet as opposed to a non-stick one.  But hey, that's what bacon is for; right?

Between prepping the veggies and the actual cooking portion the whole process only takes about ten minutes.

Steak & Eggs

This is my idea of a good breakfast; a grilled rib eye steak, two fried eggs smothered in sauteed tomatoes and red onions, a kiwi fruit and a home made Americano with creme.  Yum! 

Look Ma; No TV Tray

Pregnant ladies don't need no steenkeeng TV trays!

Weighted Pull-Ups

Last night at Crossfit Manhattan, KS, we did a workout of the day (WOD) that started with setting a 1-rep max in weighted pull-ups.  I set a PR of 65 lb.  You can see Aimee in the picture doing pull-ups with her big, pregnant belly.  She can't do them unassisted anymore, but hey, when you're seven months pregnant, every pull-up is a weighted pull-up!

Yes, that's a Captain America T-shirt I'm wearing.

Here's the rest of the workout.

10 MINUTES: Every Minute on the Minute do 2 pull-ups at 80% of your 1-rep max.

Then we did...

30x Double Unders (75 Singles)
21x Deadlifts (185/135#)
21x Box Jumps (30/24")
30x Double Unders (75 Singles)

15x Deadlifts (185/135#)

15x Box Jumps (30/24")

30x Double Unders (75 Singles) 

 9x Deadlifts (185/135#)

 9x Box Jumps (30/24")

I don't remember exactly how long it took me, but it was between 14 and 15 minutes. In that time we trained strength, endurance, stamina, power, agility, coordination, speed, balance and accuracy.  The only component of fitness we didn't train during the metabolic conditioning (metcon) portion of the workout was flexibility, and we did that during the warm up.  

And that is why Crossfit is so much more effective than other fitness programs.  Instead of focusing exclusively on one or two components of fitness at a time, Crossfit combines multiple components into relatively short, high-intensity workouts.

Doing otherwise is a waste of time.

Squats

I can't tell you how many times I've heard fitness "experts" say "don't do squats!  Squats are bad for your knees! They're bad for your back!  They'll give you herpes!"  OK, I may have exaggerated a little on the last one.  Here's reality; humans are designed to squat.  If you want to see a squat performed perfectly,watch a toddler, as this photo illustrates.  To read the captions, enlarge the photo by clicking on it.

You're probably thinking, "of course a toddler can do that.  Toddlers are only slightly less flexible than jellyfish!"  It's true that few adults' joints retain a toddlers' range of motion, but that doesn't mean we have to lose it entirely.

I've witnessed scenes like the ones at left in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ethiopia, etc.  People young and old squat whenever they need a short rest.  They'll sit comfortably in squatting position for 20 or 30 minutes.  If they anticipate waiting longer they may switch to sitting cross legged, but not if the ground is muddy (or worse).

Bottom line: humans are designed to squat.

The Army recently changed its physical training (PT) program to one they call physical readiness training (PRT).  The PRT incorporates the squat.  I've watched Soldiers perform "squats" for the PRT and their form is atrocious.  They rise up on their toes, they bow their backs, their knees are too close together, their thighs don't even come close to parallel with the ground.  So, why is it that an ancient Afghan man can perform a perfect squat, but the average "fit to fight", 18-year-old American Soldier can't come even close?

One word: furniture.

People in poor countries can't afford furniture, so they squat to rest.  We can, so we don't.  We lose our mobility over time because we don't use it.

I'm not suggesting that we burn all our furniture.  No thanks.  I like my furniture.  Well, most of it, anyway.  I'm saying that we wealthy Westerners, because of our lifestyles, need to make time to work on improving and/or maintaining our fitness.  Flexibility is one component of fitness.

"But lifting weights makes people inflexible", the fitness "experts" say.

Bull crap.

Anyone who thinks that has zero knowledge of Olympic weightlifting.  Isolating muscle groups and single joints at a time, like body builders do, makes people less flexible.  Working multiple joints and muscle groups through their entire range of motion, like Olympic weightlifters do, makes people more flexible.


So, learn to squat properly...

then add back squats...

front squats...

and overhead squats...

at weight levels that challenge you, but still allow you to maintain good technique.

Squat, people.  You're designed to do it.

Fast Hybrids

These ain't no Prii, tree huggers!



Gotta love the Stig reference.  To be precise, they're not really testing which car is faster; meaning that they would test both cars for top speed.  They're actually testing which car is quicker.

According to the post-jump press release, the M35h is "faster" than the hybrid Panamera from 0-100 (11.54 seconds) and in the quarter mile (13.41 seconds).

On top of that, the EPA says the Infinity gets the better gas mileage of the two.

[T]he EPA estimates that the M35h will manage 27 miles per gallon in the city and 32 on the highway, for a combined rating of 29. The Porsche Panamera S Hybrid is rated at 22 city, 30 highway and 25 combined. 

Not that 32 mpg or 30 mpg on the highway are all that stellar.  But, I guess if you're rich and feel guilty about your sins against Gaia,  you can buy one of these to soothe your pseudo-Druid sensibilities while doing absolutely nothing to actually reduce your environmental impact.

Porsche GT3 R Hybrid

The article should've specified that the Infinity is the quickest production, street legal hybrid, because they're certainly slower than the Porsche GT3 R Hybrid.  The Wall Street Journal describes it this way:

What you have here is an experimental, 670-horsepower, all-wheel-drive, 2,860-pound gas-electric cyclone...

[U]nlike battery-equipped hybrids, the Porsche stores its amperage mechanically, spooling up a 31-pound flywheel operating in a vacuum chamber in (one hopes) a crash-proof box beside the driver. Under acceleration, the flywheel's enormous kinetic energy is converted back to electrons and returned to the front-wheel motors, helping the car go farther and faster. There is also the not-inconsiderable thrust provided by the 4.0-liter, 470-hp flat-six in the back, churning the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox. This car can accelerate and decelerate at about 1 g and corner at nearly 2 g, which is pretty physical, let me tell you. 

Audi's all-conquering R18 TDI; their third generation
Diesel (not hybrid) race car.

Most importantly, it's winning.  Why would a race car use a hybrid drive system designed to improve efficiency?  For the same reason Audi built a Diesel-powered race car - endurance racing.  When you race for many hours straight (the pinnacle of endurance racing, Le Mans, is a 24-hour race), making fewer pit stops can mean victory.

At the American Le Mans Series' six-hour endurance race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in September, the GT3 R Hybrid walked away from the field, posting the fastest laps in the GT class and stopping only three times for fuel, compared with other competitors' five or more stops.

Check it out in action.



Not to be outdone, Toyota, the king of hybrids, will return to Le Mans this year with their own hybrid race car.



And now Audi may add a hybrid system to the R18 TDI.

Greenie weenies whine incessantly about racing.  It's wasteful and unnecessary, they say.  What they don't realize is that racing is like natural selection accelerated, thus the old saying; "racing improves the breed".  Nothing improves things more quickly or effectively than intense competition (keep that in mind, Socialists).  They also fail to realize that the same technologies that make a car faster - light weight materials, low-friction materials, direct injection, turbocharging - are easily modified to improve efficiency.

Face it, tree huggers; racing is the best thing to happen to hybrids.

Third Day - "Children of God"

Third Day has been my favorite band for years, and this video just reinforces that.

Mmmm... Beeeeef!

Just in case you were wondering, this is what 380 lb of locally-grown beef looks like in the 21 cubic-foot freezer in our garage.















And this is what a delicious, paleo friendly meal looks like - salad, half an avocado and a tasty, grilled rib eye so juicy and tender you could cut it with a fork!  Mmmmmm....  The entire meal took all of 15 minutes to make (Aimee made the salad while I seasoned and grilled the steaks) and, yes, I did eat all the scrumptious, caramelized fat!

Preemie Born at 9.5 oz Goes Home

That this happened around the anniversary of Roe Vs Wade seems providential.



Baby Melinda was born at 24 weeks.  According to abortion supporters, babies in the womb at 24 weeks are neither alive nor human, and therefore do not deserve the most basic or all human rights; the right to live.  So, please explain, abortion supporters; if Baby Melinda was not alive, how did she survive?  How can that which is not alive survive?  Is Baby Melinda human?  What species was she at 29 weeks?  By what biological mechanism did she become human over these last five months?

It sure makes a lot more sense when you believe the self-evident truth that Baby Melinda is human, created equal to the rest of us, and endowed by her Creator with certain unalienable rights; chief among them LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, doesn't it?

By the way, here's a big hint: there's a good reason why the right to LIFE is first on the list.

1,000 Days Without a Budget

Tomorrow's Pres Obama's next State of the Union speech.  It's also the 1,000th day since the US Senate passed a budget.  For the US government to have a budget requires the House and Senate to jointly write and pass it, then the President signs it.  The House has passed multiple budget proposals, but the Senate hasn't even attempted to do so.  All the while, they add trillions of dollars to the Federal Debt.  Here are a couple videos on the issue.





Remember, writing the Federal budget is a chief, constitutionally mandated duty of Congress.  Our senators aren't doing their jobs, and getting paid lavish salaries and benefits for their inaction.

Circle Cycle Internal Combustion Engine

Despite its detractors predicting its demise for decades, the internal combustion engine keeps going and going; its basic design unchanged since the days of Nikolaus Otto.  Recently, some weird and wonderful new variations on the old theme have cropped up (though, I haven't seen them make any commercial success... yet), and the Circle Cycle Engine is the weirdest one yet.

We haven't looked at any new internal combustion engines for a while and I just spotted this one, the Circle Cycle engine. It's described as an orbital, non-reciprocating internal combustion engine, having pistons and cylinders and able to run on a variety of combustible liquids or gasses. It has no engine block, no crankshaft or connecting rods, no separate flywheel, no intake or exhaust valves, no water pump and no radiator or any of the hardware usually associated with these items.

The engine uses direct injection of fuel into the center of the combustion chamber and it can be configured to run as either spark ignition or diesel. Potential applications, according to the website, are pretty much what you would expect, which is anything you would use any other internal combustion engine for.

I can't even begin to describe the operation of this engine in words, so just check out this animation.



It looks pretty amazing, but the good old Otto and Diesel engines have 100+ years of refinement conducted all over the world by thousands of very smart people (engineers, master mechanics, garage tinkerers, etc.) on their side.  It's highly unlikely that any new design will succeed against those odds.  I'd love to see it happen, so I hope I'm wrong.

Forget "Women & Children First"

Congratulations, feminists; you got what you wanted.

Her story backs up other survivor claims that it was a case of every man, woman and child for themselves of the £390m vessel after it ran aground. 

Fights broke out to get into the lifeboats, men refused to prioritise women, expectant mothers and children as they pushed themselves forward to escape. Crew ignored their passengers – leaving ‘chefs and waiters’ to help out.

If chivalry is dead, it's because of harpies who screech, "male chauvinist pig!" when a gentleman opens a door for them, and weak men who reason that it's to their advantage when women refuse to demand to be treated like ladies.

Crossfit Kids: The Gauntlet

No need to leave kids out of the "fun" of Crossfit competition, because now there's The Gauntlet.

2011 Crossfit Games Highlights

Awesome.  And the 2012 Open is just around the corner!

"Anybody Can Do Anything"

Maddy Thomas, a girl with cerebral palsy, makes me feel like a total slacker.

Raise the Debt Limit

Don't you wish you could raise your debt limit any time you want to blow roughly 50% more money in a year than you take in, the way the Federal Government does?

Margaret Thatcher on Socialism

Margaret Thatcher famously said that "the problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."  Here she makes another great observation about Socialism.

Real After Tax Income Growth from 1979-2007

"All levels of income are better off than in 1979... he would rather the poor were poorer, provided the rich were less rich."

She's absolutely right.  Whenever Socialists talk about income inequality, what they're really saying is that they'd rather everyone was worse off as long as the gap between rich and poor was smaller.  Socialists made their desire most obvious when the Congressional Budget Office released the report that includes this chart on the right.

I look at that chart and think, "Great!  Everyone's income increased over the last 30 years.  The rich got richer, but so did everyone else."  Socialists see it and think, "Those evil rich are even richer than the poor than they were before!  It's not fair!"

The problem is that Socialism is based on envy, and envious people can never be happy with what they have.  What they think will make them happy is for no one to have anything they do not.  In reality, not even that will make them happy.  Besides, as Dan Mitchell explains...

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Totally Drug Resistant Tuberculosis

I just loved reading this after having watched the movie Contagion with Aimee last night.

Physicians in India have identified a form of incurable tuberculosis there, raising further concerns over increasing drug resistance to the disease¹. Although reports call this latest form a “new entity”, researchers suggest that it is instead another development in a long-standing problem.

The discovery makes India the third country in which a completely drug-resistant form of the disease has emerged, following cases documented in Italy in 2007² and Iran in 2009³.

Iran makes sense, but Italy?

Part of the increase in drug resistance is related to complications that arise in treating patients who are also infected with HIV — 13% of TB cases, according to the WHO. However, the greatest part of the problem results from the management of the disease.

.... 

“The cases are a story of mismanagement,” says Migliori. “Resistance is man-made, caused by exposure to the wrong treatment, the wrong regimen, the wrong treatment duration.”

....

The fact that no new first-line TB drugs have been developed for half a century has probably contributed to the emergence of strains that are unresponsive to treatment, says Mitnick. “If you keep using the same drugs for that long, resistance is inevitable.” 

Boy, that socialized medicine just keeps looking better and better, doesn't it?

EDIT: It's sad that I have to do this, but such is the state of things today.  I'm not against antibiotics, antivirals or drugs in general.  I'm not even against pharmaceutical companies, though that is very much in vogue.  As the Nature article states, however, even good things, like life-saving drugs, have to be used competently to function properly.  Furthermore, governments around the world keep making it more difficult and more expensive to develop new drugs.  The result is that pharmaceutical companies develop fewer drugs and bacteria and viruses inevitably become resistant to existing drugs.

Finally, I'm skeptical of conspiracy theories.  I firmly believe that one should not ascribe to malice what can be easily ascribed to incompetence.

Home Invasion Thwarted in Knoxville

This is another one of those cases gun grabbers hate.

KNOXVILLE — A Curtis Road homeowner shot and seriously wounded a burglar early this afternoon, according to the Knox County Sheriff's Office.

The burglar was hit twice with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Those 12-gauge shotguns work so well, it's almost as though they were designed for that purpose!  

Suspect Christopher Wayne Reno's wounds, which include an injury to the buttocks area, "appear to be serious," KCSO Chief Deputy Eddie Biggs said.

In the words of Larry the Cable Guy; now that's just funny right there, I don't care who you are! 

Despite those wounds, the burglar ran out of the house and was driven away in a car driven by a companion who then abandoned him outside the McDonald's Restaurant on Millertown Pike. 

"People say he just pushed him out of the car," Biggs said.

I guess the old saying is true; there really is no honor among thieves! 

The homeowner, Keith Denton, 56, was not injured. Denton had been in the shower when he heard a thud in another part of the house, went to investigate and encountered Reno in a hallway. Reno turns 22 next week.

What?  The homeowner didn't shoot himself while attempting to defend himself and his property?  You mean gun grabbers lie about that being the most likely outcome?  Say it ain't so! 

The man who drove him away, Jason Nelson, 35, was brought to the Knoxville Police Department by his mother and questioned Friday afternoon by KCSO investigators. Charges against him are pending following discussions between KCSO investigators and the Knox County District Attorney General's office. 

Seriously?  He was brought to the police department by his mother?  So, he's not just a lowlife; he's a pathetic lowlife!  


Anyway, it's good to hear that yet another law abiding person successfully used his Second Amendment rights to defend himself from criminals who thought nothing of violating his right to private property, and possibly even  his right to life.  Good for you, Mr Denton! 

Fighting for Jesus

Before watching the video, read this excerpt from Vitor Belfort's Wikipedia page.

Vítor Vieira Belfort (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvitoʁ bewˈfɔʁt]; born April 1, 1977) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Belfort was born in Rio de Janeiro and studied jiu-jitsu with the Gracie family, namely Carlson Gracie. He received a black belt under Carlson and currently trains with Xtreme Couture, fighting in the middleweight division. He holds notable victories over Randy Couture, Rich Franklin, Wanderlei Silva, andYoshihiro Akiyama and is currently ranked as the #8 middleweight in the world by MMA Weekly.

 Now watch the video.



I remember when I first heard about his sister's kidnapping before one of his fights and was amazed that he could focus well enough to fight under the circumstances.   I can't imagine what he and his family have experienced; not really knowing what happened to Priscila Belfort, having not even found her body.  I didn't know until watching this video, however, that he is a devout Christian.

That brings up an intriguing phenomenon; mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters who are devout Christians and very outspoken about it.  At first, this seems contradictory.  Beating ones opponent senseless, or forcing him to "submit" by painfully manipulating a major joint or choking him unconscious doesn't seem to square with "love your neighbor as yourself" or "love your enemies".

John Jones throws a head kick while sporting a
Phillipians 4:13 tattoo.

Nevertheless, there is a long list of highly successful MMA fighters who are also outspoken Christians.  Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort are all former champions in their respective weight classes.  Randy Couture held belts in both the heavyweight and light heavyweight classes.  Both Couture and Hughes are UFC Hall of Famers.  John Jones, the current light heavyweight champion, is another.

There are probably more of whom I either don't know or have forgotten.  It's probably common to watch two Christians beat each other up for money on UFC.

Given the growing popularity of MMA in general and the UFC in particular, why haven't Christians embraced these professing pugilists like they have, for example, Tim Tebow?

I suspect the number one reason is that MMA isn't nearly as popular as football, yet, so most Christians are only vaguely aware of it.  Most probably couldn't name an elite fighter.

I think, however, that Vitor Belfort hit on the second major reason; "How you can serve God and you're there punching, kicking..."  Most Christians don't see how the teachings of Christ can be reconciled with a sport as violent as MMA.  And let's face it; MMA is violent.  But that brings us back to something else Belfort said; "What about American football?  What about hockey?"  True.  What about them?  What about Tim Tebow?  I'd argue that football is just as violent as MMA, and probably more dangerous.  Concussions, broken bones and dislocated joints are more common in football than MMA - which shouldn't be surprising in a sport in which much-larger-than-average men regularly slam into each other at full speed.



So, why do Christians readily accept football, but not MMA?  Pretty much every private, Christian high school has a tackle football team, even a wrestling team (wrestling is an essential MMA skill, along with jiu-jitsu and kick boxing - thus the name mixed martial arts), but can you imagine a church or Christian school hosting a local MMA tournament?  I can't.  But why not?  Why does the average Christian embrace the violence of football, but not the violence of MMA?

As I said earlier, I think it's mostly due to familiarity.  The unfamiliarity of MMA forces people to think about what they're watching, rather than just accepting it because it's always been a part of their lives.  So, does that mean that Christians should reject all violent sports, even those familiar to them?  I don't think so.  I think we should embrace them.

Our world is fallen, sinful.  Evil people who willingly injure others are the minority, but that minority causes incalculable suffering.  The only effective way to stop such people from causing suffering is to neutralize them violently.  Sometimes that means through military or police action.  Sometimes that means an 18-year-old mother protecting her baby by killing one of the drugged-out thugs who broke into her house with her late husband's shotgun.

God created a world free from human suffering, but being omniscient, He knew what our world would be like once we introduced sin into it.  Because of that, in His wisdom, He created us with not only the capacity to violently neutralize evil, but the desire to do so.  More specifically, He created men with that capacity and desire.  It's why we are - in general - bigger and stronger than women.  He meant us to protect women and children - violently, when necessary.

Thankfully, it's rarely necessary.  But the instinct is still there.  That instinct is easily corrupted by our sinful nature, especially in boys and young men who haven't learned the self discipline and self control necessary to keep it in check.  Violent, combative sports - such as football, hockey, wrestling, boxing, MMA or any other martial art - provide them with a healthy outlet through which to exercise their violent instinct, ideally under the supervision and discipline of older men who've learned self control and impart those lessons to their young pupils.  

But martial arts (I include boxing and wrestling in this category) are superior in this respect than violent sports like football.  They not only provide an outlet; they provide training.  They make their practitioners more efficient, effective and (perhaps most importantly) more confident in the use of violence, which makes them more capable of defending themselves and others from violence.

In short, Christians should embrace combative sports as tools with which to mold, shape and forge the raw violent instinct in boys and men into something useful and good, as opposed to pretending it doesn't exist or wishing it away as most do now.

Packin' Pretty

Via The Firearm Blog: Gracie of Packing Pretty, the Assistant Director of the Firearms Training Dept. at Clatskanie Rifle and Pistol Club, demonstrates how to carry a concealed full size pistol while wearing a dress. 

This could come in very handy for you ladies who take responsibility for your personal safety... or for any dudes out there who choose to wear a dress.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  OK, there is something wrong with that, but feel free to do it anyway.

Crossfit: The Hussman Family

The family that Crossfits together gets fit together.

In June 2010, Nathan Hussman was nearly 48 and, by his estimation, about 40 lb. overweight.

"For two years prior to that I was doing absolutely nothing physical," he says. "I felt like I was an 80-year-old man. I couldn't pick my daughter up without pain. ... I had to make some kind of a change."

So at 8 a.m. on the Sunday of his 48th birthday, he woke up his wife, son and two daughters for a trip to CrossFit Charlotte.

He dragged the family down there and "told them that this is my birthday present—to myself," he says.

A year later, Hussman is 160 lb.

"It's just been life changing for me and my entire family," he says. "I went from not being able to press 35 lb. over my head due to some back injuries to now I can put 155 or so over my head and not skip a beat. And it's been the same type of effect for my family."

His 20-year-old son, Cory; his 16-year-old daughter; and his wife all CrossFit. 

That's a rough way to start Crossfit!  I was a relatively fit, 33-year-old Army Captain when I started, and I got my butt kicked!  But, that's what we mean by "infinitely scaleable".  You can adjust Crossfit to any fitness level.

"Haywire" Review

In a follow-up to my previous post on this movie (sort of), here's the first review of "Haywire" I've come across.

Mallory is not a simple ass-kicking alpha female though, a common archetype that is so often just a male stereotype in the skin of a female action hero, and there are crucial moments when her fragility and emotional range is evident. She is hurt at times, both emotionally and physically, revealing a more complex and truer depth to her character. Haywire is not a heavy-handed essay piece though, it’s a super slick action movie which is just thankfully as intelligently thought out as it is entertaining.

The review is very positive and, surprisingly, even speaks well of Gina Carano's acting.  I hope it's true, that this is a good movie and it succeeds at the box office - mostly because I enjoy good action flicks, but also because I hope this reverses the anorexic action heroine trend.

Here's another trailer.

Greatest Cosmetic Product Ever

Via Instapundit:


Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Obama Can't Tell Churches Who to Hire

Another victory for religious liberty:

The Obama administration unsuccessfully argued that the government can dictate who churches hire, as long as it also subjects secular employers to the same dictates regarding who they hire (so-called rules of general applicability). Taken to its logical conclusion, this argument would allow the government to ban a church or synagogue from hiring based on religion (defeating the whole purpose of religious freedom, which is to allow churches to promote their own religion) or sex (preventing the Catholic Church from having a male priesthood).

I thought the Pres was supposed to be some kind of constitutional scholar, or something.  Apparently, that doesn't mean what Obama worshipers think it means.

"Just Like the Tea Party" (Continued)

Not satisfied with theft, vandalism, illegal drug use, assault, rioting, child prostitution, rape and murder, the Occupiers have added child abandonment to their growing repertoire of crime.

An infant’s cries rang through the Occupy DC encampment in McPherson Square Wednesday morning, and when a group went to investigate they found only a baby girl alone in a tent, wearing a onesie and mittens.

Soon after, authorities said, a man had been arrested and the girl — who was unharmed — was in the city’s care.

....

Canavan said the man was not a familiar face in the encampment and had only pitched his tent there this week. The camp has been in the park since Oct. 1.

“None of us knew this person,” she said. “It was a despicable, atrocious thing do. Every one here is revolted by the behavior.”

It's just weird, isn't it, how the criminals are never actual members of the "Occupy" movement, yet everywhere the "Occupy" movement goes, "despicable, atrocious" criminal behavior inevitably follows.

Hey, remember when people found an abandoned baby at a Tea Party rally?  No?  Huh.  Funny, me neither.

The Paleo Diet Flow Chart

From Crossfit Manhattan, KS: a handy guide for when you have a hard time deciding if something is healthy to eat or not.

Dropkick a Claymore

On a lighter(?) note, here are instructions on how to "dropkick" a Claymore mine.

This is the kind of useful stuff the Army doesn't normally teach us non-cool-guys.

Candidates' Tax Plans

Check out this info-graphic that compares the Republican candidates' tax plans to that of Pres Obama.  Open the image in another tab or window to see it full size. 

Here's what I think.  The ideal tax is a 10%, or lower, retail sales tax.  No exemptions.  Zero corporate tax, zero capital gains tax, zero death tax.  The national sales tax would replace all other taxes.  The only other federal government revenue would come from fees paid for specific services and land leases.

There are two reasons I like this idea; one philosophical and one practical.  Philosophically, it's the closest thing possible to a voluntary tax.  If you buy less stuff, you pay less in taxes.  If you buy more, you pay more.  Practically, it's extremely pro-growth.  It eliminates the complexity of the current tax code, which means companies can divert the money the now spend on complying with the tax code to more productive uses.  It eliminates corporate taxes, which makes running a business in the US much less expensive, which encourages businesses to stay in, or relocate to, the US.  It eliminates payroll taxes, making it less expensive to hire people, which encourages businesses to hire more people. It eliminates capital gains taxes, encouraging people to invest and save more.  Get the picture?

The problem is that the 16th Amendment gives Congress the power to tax income.  If we passed a national income tax, Congress would inevitably add it to all the other taxes we already have, which would be disastrous; just ask a European.  We would first need to repeal the 16th Amendment, which is very difficult to do.

Given that reality, I think the most practical thing to do is replace all current taxes with a 10%, or lower, personal income tax and a 10%, or lower, corporate tax.  Eliminate all other taxes.  Most of the pro-growth properties of the sales tax would remain.  

"Just Like the Tea Party" (Continued)

The rat population in Washington DC is "exploding", and not just because Congress is back in session! (couldn't resist)

The rat population around the two Occupy D.C. camps at McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza has “exploded”since protesters began their vigil in October, according to Mohammad N. Akhter, the director of the District’s Department of Health.

Akhter said in an interview Monday that city health inspectors have seen rats running openly through both camps and spotted numerous new burrows and nests underneath hay-stuffed pallets occupiers are using for beds. Both campsites had working kitchens for weeks until last week, but protesters at McPherson Square voluntarily closed down theirs after health inspectors pointed out unsanitary conditions during an informal monitoring visit.

These disgusting, unwashed, spoiled children in adult bodies can't even clean up after themselves.  What makes anyone think they can govern?

Oh, yeah.  Remember when Tea Party protests turned into filthy rat-breeding experiments?  No?  Huh, that's funny.  Me neither.  I wonder why.

US Debt Exceeds GDP

Another achievement for the Obama administration!

The amount of money the federal government owes to its creditors, combined with IOUs to government retirement and other programs, now tops $15.23 trillion.
That's roughly equal to the value of all goods and services the U.S. economy produces in one year: $15.17 trillion as of September, the latest estimate. Private projections show the economy likely grew to about $15.3 trillion by December — a level the debt is likely to surpass this month.

By comparison, Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio was 120% before their economy collapsed.

Unfortunately, I haven't heard any of the Republican presidential candidates offer a credible plan to avert economic catastrophe.  And we know we can't count on the Democrats to do anything but borrow $Trillions per year.

Anything that can't go on for ever won't.  This insane borrowing and spending will stop.  The only questions are when and how.  Waiting longer will only worsen the inevitable pain.

Help Newark Violate the Bill of Rights

The mayor of Newark wants to make sure that his fellow residents are disarmed and defenseless against criminals, unlike Mrs McKinley of Oklahoma, who killed one of her attackers and scared away the other one.



Gun-grabbing politicians aren't concerned with your safety.  Otherwise, they'd allow you the means to defend yourself, which - by the way - is your right.  Instead, they constantly push laws that violate the Second Amendment and do nothing to reduce crime.  Which is why Newark's program is aptly named "Gun Stoppers", not "Crime Stoppers".

Radical Ducati RAD02 Imola Café Racer

From Asphalt and Rubber Magazine:

This is a beautiful bike.  Ducati builds some lookers, but these guys have taken an air cooled Ducati Desmodue engine and wrapped it in mechanical art.

I don't know how much it costs, but I'm sure I can't afford it.  Then again, the same is true of those polished rolling turds most people erroneously refer to as "choppers", and just looking at the running gear and chassis geometry, I'm confident this bike rides far better than any of those clunkers.  Heck, those turds don't even have rear suspension.

Check out the link for a bunch more pics and enjoy the video.



Making of Imola by Radical Ducati from Rocket68 on Vimeo.

Equinox: the Anti-Gym

Aimee wrote another great post; this time on Equinox Gym's New Year's ad campaign.

One gym this year based out of New York has taken their marketing to a whole new level. Equinox Gym's New Year’s marketing shows pictures of extremely skinny models doing out of the gym activities.  Here are just two of their advertisements.

I am happy to say that there has been a negative response to these ads.  Equinox’s Facebook account was flooded with complaints from their customers saying that their models look unhealthy and anorexic.  Equinox and the fashion designer photographer, Terry Richardson, are also getting all kinds of criticism from the general public.  ABC even published a very short article for which “Neither Terry Richardson nor Equinox returned requests from ABC News for comment.”

I suppose that kind of thing is to be expected when a company hires a fashion photographer to create their ad campaign.  Nevertheless, this strikes me as just plain weird.  Maybe that's because I've never been to an Equinox Gym.  Maybe the women who pay to attend those gyms really do want to be starved, emaciated and weak.  If so, they don't need to pay for a gym to achieve that goal.  Here's a quote from the ABC article.

Fashion news site Fashionista wrote, “The girls are undoubtedly thin-but they have some definition. The Equinox location in SoHo is overrun with models, and many of them I’ve seen there are a LOT thinner than these girls.”

"They have some definition"?  Where?  And these women are supposedly fit and healthy because they're not as starved, emaciated and weak as other models?  Really?  That's your standard of health and fitness?  Again, I suppose that's to be expected from a fashion website.  I give up.  I don't get it.  I'll never understand why so many women pay these people so much money for their twisted opinions.  

What I understand least is Equinox.  They run gyms.  They're supposed to promote health and fitness.  If they think those models represent health and fitness, they clearly don't know the definitions of those words.  If, on the other hand, they know those models don't represent health and fitness and they're selling that image to their customers anyway, that means they're deliberately committing malpractice in their field.

And their customers are paying for it.

No thanks.  I'll stick with Crossift.