Olympic weightlifter Holley Mangold Joins ‘The Biggest Loser’ | OlympicTalk

U.S. Olympic weightlifter Holley Mangold on ‘The Biggest Loser’ | OlympicTalk

Super Heavyweight Holley Mangold

Well, this is unexpected!

Holley Mangold‘s road to the Rio Olympics will go through “The Biggest Loser.” 

Mangold, who placed 10th in the super heavyweight division at the London Games, said the NBC weight-loss show reached out to her. Now, she’s a contestant on the series’ 15th season beginning Oct. 8.

Ms Mangold is a super heavyweight Olympic weightlifter.  According to the USA Weightlifting website, female super heavies start at 165 lb and go up from there.  There is no upper limit to how much they can weigh.  Frankly, I think 165 lb is too low a starting point for a weight class called "super heavyweight".  Ms Mangold, however, weighed in at 346 lb at the 2012 Olympics and took 10th in her weight class.

53 Kg class Weightlifter, Cortney Batchelor

Olympic weightlifting doesn't just require strength.  It requires power, speed, coordination, flexibility, agility, balance and accuracy.  Of the ten components of fitness, the only two that Olympic weightlifters typically lack are endurance and stamina, and only because their sport does not require them.  As the photo above demonstrates, super heavy weights tend to carry around a lot of body fat as well.  Their smaller counterparts do not.

I've always wondered if all that extra body fat hurts the superheavies.  Last year, Aimee and I watched a documentary called "Strong!" about another American superheavy, Rachel Haworth.



In the documentary, Ms Haworth claimed that the weight added by body fat helped, because "mass moves mass".

Ms Mangold, however, thinks it hurt her.

“I feel like that was my limiting factor the last run for the Olympics is I was too big for the super heavyweight,” said Mangold... “I needed to be smaller so I could train harder.” 

Mangold said being on the show will help her get back to the Olympics in Rio, that she can be better at a smaller weight. 

“I think I finally decided now I don’t have to wait to retire before I get in shape,” she said. “I always had this thought that if I lost weight, I wouldn’t be as good of a weightlifter anymore. I plan on going to Rio. I was very nervous about it. I think, after ‘Biggest Loser’ reached out to me, I thought this is a good idea. I can do this and be the great weightlifter I want to be.”

I shouldn't have been surprised that "The Biggest Loser" reached out to Ms Mangold.  Back in 2012, in an interview with Wired Magazine, she stated that...

As soon as I retire I will be doing cross-fit and I’m sure I’ll go crazy with health stuff.

...and  "Biggest Loser" trainer, Bob Harper, is big into CrossFit.  On top of that, Ms Mangold stopped by the 2012 CrossFit Games for a weightlifting demo.  I'd be willing to bet it was Bob Harper's idea that she participate.

Whatever the case may be, I wish her the best of luck in both her health and Olympic weightlifting goals.

Here's a video interview Ms Mangold did with the show's producers.

Obama-Backed Terrorists Attempt Religious Extermination in Maaloula, Syria

This is why we need to stay out of Syria.  If we support Assad, we support a mass-murdering dictator and Iran, but by supporting the rebels, we're supporting this.

Maaloula is a special place. It has been a safe haven for Christians for 2,000 years - until now. It was a place of refuge so secure in its rugged mountain isolation that a dialect of the language of Christ, Aramaic, is still spoken here. But not today. 

Its Christian community of 2,000 has fled. In the tight alleyways and streets that wind up the Maaloula's mountainside their language has been replaced by the Arabic of two bitter enemies: rebels from three Islamist groups and the soldiers of President Bashar al-Assad.
Some 70,000 tourists a year used to come here from all over the Middle East, Europe and America to marvel at the Christianity carved into its rock. But the "Welcome to Maaloula" sign as I drove in seemed almost laughable. 

There was hardly time to notice the white statue of Christ the Redeemer on the hillside before we were fired on, bullets aimed at our van, blowing our tyre and holing the chassis. We screeched to a halt and scrambled clear.

Lee Stranahan, one of the few American reporters in the area, has details of the attack.

For weeks in early September, the world got sketchy reports on the back and forth fighting in Maaloula, as combined Syrian rebel forces consisting of U.S. backed ‘Free Syria Army’ fighters battled next to al-Qaeda backed al-Nusra troops against Syrian goverment forces for control of the town. 

The Maalourla survivors, speaking out for the first time, said that the Free Syria Army troops were as one with the al-Nusra warriors. They described in heartbreakng detail how Maaloula’s townspeople were terrorized and some killed for being Christian. 

The attack began with a suicide bomber attacking the local checkpoint. One survivor said that armed Muslims were inside her house almost immediately, and held a machine gun to her husband’s head. The Islamists bragged about smashing a statue of Mary and taunted the family for their Christianity. The survivor broke down in tears describing her fear that her daughter would be raped by the men and that the family would be killed. 

When the Maaloula witnesses was told that U.S Sec. of State John Kerry had referred to the FSA forces as ‘moderate’ in Senate testimony, she closed her eyes, shook her head both and forth and said “No no no no no.” 

She said that she didn’t trust the press after seeing their reporting on the situation in Maaloula, which deemphasized the Islamist elements of the attack.

More from Mr Stranahan:



For more info, visit Mr Stranahan's site and read this report from Ed Morrissey. 

General Dynamics Long-Range Machine Gun | Kit Up!

GD Shows Off Long-Range Machine Gun | Kit Up!

GD’s Ordnance and Tactical Systems division was showing off the 23-pound LWMMG at Modern Day Marine 2013, touting it as the needed bridge between the M240 and the M2 .50 caliber machine guns. 

“We wanted a round that could provide capabilities to eliminate the gap between 7.62mm and .50 cal,” a GD official said. “We needed a round that could provide accurate, effective fire on target beyond 1,500 meters.” 

The LWMMG fires a 300 grain .338 caliber bullet and is capable of effective fire out to 1,700 meters, compared to the M240 round which is effective out to 1,100 meters. 

“It puts a lot of energy on the target; it doesn’t compare to the .50 cal which is a 650 grain bullet, but we are not trying to replace the .50 cal,” the GD official said. The LWMMG isn’t being marketed as a replacement for the M240 either even though it’s about 4 pounds lighter. The heavier, .338NM ammo weighs about 9 pounds for every 100-round box. One hundred rounds of 7.62mm weights about seven pounds. 

“You can mount this anywhere an M240 will mount,” he said. “You can put effective fire on targets at extended ranges, and that is why we chose that round; we built the weapon around the round.”

After 12 years of war, our Enemies in the AfPak theater know our weapons' capabilities pretty well.  Consequently, they prefer to initiate an ambush with an IED, then open fire with machine guns, RPGs and recoilless rifles (when available) from elevated positions out of range of our weapons.

Our .50 cal machine guns can reach them, but a dismounted patrol can't carry a .50 cal.  And a mounted patrol can't dismount the .50 cal from a truck and maneuver it to a more advantageous position if the enemy's fighting positions are too far up on the high ground (which they usually are).

This machine gun weighs roughly the same as an M-240, but with much greater range.  Carrying an M-240B in Afghan terrain is no joke, but our servicemen do it.  And this guns range is long enough that the enemy wouldn't be able to out-range them.

My first thought when I read the Kit Up headline was - why not .338 Lapua?  How does the .338 Norma compare to it?  I don't know the answer to those questions, but here's this from the article...

The plan was to build the LWMMG in the same round as U.S. Special Operations Command’s new Precision Sniper Rifle, which Remington is now building in .338 Lapua magnum, GD officials said. While the company is pleased with the performance of the shorter .338NM cartridge, it would not be difficult to convert it to .338 Lapua, GD officials maintain.

Check out these videos.

Feds Steal $35K From Small Grocer's Bank Account Despite Finding "No Violations" To Justify the Grab - Hit & Run : Reason.com

Feds Steal $35K From Small Grocer's Bank Account Despite Finding "No Violations" To Justify the Grab - Hit & Run : Reason.com

the feds sent the Dehkos a letter saying that “no violations [of banking laws] were identified.” 

And then, nine months later, the IRS emptied the Dehkos' bank acount of $35,000 without warning. 

In the Dehkos' case, the IRS used civil asset forfeiture, which requires no criminal action or proof of guilt on the part of a property owner to seize that property...

This, ladies and gentlemen, is legalized theft.  The 4th Amendment of the Constitution reads...

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

How can the Feds get away with such a clear violation of the 4th Amendment?

technically, it's a legal action against the property itself. 

I see.  So the feds are punishing the property, not the people who own it.  Makes perfect sense.

Not surprisingly, it's a hugely lucrative practice for government agencies and a hugely controversial one for everybody else. 

I bet.

But the use of asset forfeiture, both civil and criminal, soared at the federal level under the current administration, growing from $500 million in 2003, to $1.8 billion in 2011. 

Surprise!



If this doesn't piss you off, I don't know what will, because if this can happen to the Dehkos, it can happen to any of us.

Armed Brit Citizen Saved 100 Lives in Kenya Terrorist Attack | Mail Online

British hero of the mall massacre: Ex Royal Marine with a handgun saved 100 lives as terrorists ran amok | Mail Online

"Liberals" claim no one with a concealed weapon ever saved a life in a mass murder attack.  Wanna bet?

The former soldier is said to have returned to the building on a dozen occasions, despite intense gunfire. 

A friend in Nairobi said: ‘What he did was so heroic. He was having coffee with friends when it happened. 

‘He went back in 12 times and saved 100 people. Imagine going back in when you knew what was going on inside.’ 

Sources said the soldier was in the Royal Marine and now lives in Kenyan. He cannot be named for security reasons. 

The British military regularly train and operate out of Kenya, and have been involved in tracking UK citizens involved with hardline Islamists in Somalia and Yemen. 

Former members work with both the UK and Kenyan governments and security firms across East Africa.

I don't know about British Marines, but American Jar Heads don't like being called Soldiers.  Just a hint. Anyway, you can see a pistol in his waist band.  Hopefully we'll get more details.

Eye Witness to Westgate Mall Terrorist Attack - CNN.com

Kenyan police vow to 'finish and punish' Westgate Mall terrorists - CNN.com


Unbelievable.  Be sure to read the whole thing.

The Most Powerful PHOTOS From Saturday's Westgate Attack - Nairobi Wire

The Most Powerful PHOTOS From Saturday's Westgate Attack - Nairobi Wire

I haven't read about a resolution to this terrorist attack yet.  Two things stood out to me in these photos.  The first, probably because I'm a father.  The following photos look to me like unrelated people helping children who somehow became separated from their parents.

Note how the little little girls are of different ages, but are dressed in similar shirts.  That may not mean anything, but parents often dress siblings in matching clothes.  We do.  As a father of seven, I can't imagine how I'd keep track of all my kids and get them all out safely in a situation like this.  It's heartening to see what looks like strangers helping children get out of an unimaginably dangerous, chaotic situation safely.  Again, I could be wrong.  Those people could be friends or relatives, but that's how it looks to me.

As a Soldier with multiple combat deployments, who's helped train - and fought alongside - foreign troops, and a gun enthusiast, the following one stood out to me.

First, I'm happy to see the muzzle and trigger discipline displayed here.  Second, I'm jealous of their FN SCAR Hs. 

God speed, men. 

Dutch King kills the welfare state! Lauds new "Participation Society"! (VIDEO) | The Libertarian Republic

Dutch King kills the welfare state! Lauds new "Participation Society"! (VIDEO) | The Libertarian Republic

I don't know what the Dutch king really means by "the welfare state is dead".  Every welfare state will die eventually.  A few may be killed off before they drag their nations down Greek style.  Most will fail catastrophically.  They're all unsustainable.

However, most governments talk a good game about "spending cuts" and "austerity", but few actually spend any less.  Instead, they reduce the rate at which they increase spending, then call it a "spending cut".  Our politicians are particularly bad about that.



The video takes a potentially well-deserved jab at the king.  If it's true that the Netherlands spend 100 million Euros per year on the royal family, then that should be among the first budget items to get the ax.

My life of hell in an Afghan harem | Phyllis Chesler

My life of hell in an Afghan harem | New York Post

I've read a lot of Phyllis Chesler's articles, and I had no idea about any of this.

I once lived in a harem in Afghanistan. 

I did not enter the kingdom as a diplomat, soldier, teacher, journalist or foreign aid worker. I came as a young Jewish bride of the son of one of the country’s wealthiest men. I was held in a type of captivity — but it’s not as if I had been kidnapped. 

I walked into it of my own free will.

Lots of naive, love-struck Western women have ended up in similar predicaments with Muslim men.  Some people refuse to look at reality until runs them over like a Mack Truck.

It is 1959. I am only 18 when my prince — a dark, older, handsome, westernized foreigner who had traveled abroad from his native home in Afghanistan — bedazzles me.

Wait a minute.  She was "bedazzled" by.... this dweeb?  I don't mean to be disrespectful, but, seriously, Phyllis?

I’ve never told this story in detail before, but felt that I must now. Because I hear some westerners preach the tortured cultural relativism that excuses the mistreatment of women in the name of Islam. Because I see the burqa on the streets of Paris and New York and feel that Afghanistan has followed me back to America. 

I call myself a feminist — but not just any feminist. My kind of feminism was forged in the fires of Afghanistan. There I received an education — an expensive, almost deadly one — but a valuable one, too. 

I understand firsthand how deep-seated the hatred of women is in that culture. I see how endemic indigenous barbarism and cruelty is and unlike many other intellectuals and feminists, I don’t try to romanticize or rationalize it. 

I got out, and I will never return. 

The whole article is worth a read, so be sure to click on the link.

That explains a lot about Phyllis Chesler, like why her writing - unlike the vast majority of Feminists' - fails to induce vomiting.  It also explains why - unlike the vast majority of Western Feminists, who obsess about imaginary "wars on women" and "wage gaps" - Phyllis Chesler focuses on the very real oppression of women in majority Muslim countries.

Man Uses Spear to Save Girlfriend from Mountain Lion | OutdoorHub

Man Uses Spear to Save Girlfriend from Mountain Lion | OutdoorHub

I hereby nominate this man for Alpha Male of the Year.

Officials say that the man took up a spear, likely made for boar hunting, and stabbed the large cat several times. The mountain lion ran off and the man was able to procure help for his injured girlfriend. 

“That’s a significant amount of bravery that he showed,” Conservation officer Ben York told The Globe and Mail. “I understand why he did it, but it still takes a lot of bravery to do what he did and I’m glad he was there to rescue her. You know it could have turned out a lot differently if he hadn’t been around.”

The Galaxy's Core Is About to Explode - Popular Mechanics

The Galaxy's Core Is About to Explode - Popular Mechanics

This is seriously cool stuff.

Astronomers have detected a blob of gas, called G2, that's being ripped apart as it plunges toward the black hole. Later this year the hole will start to consume that cloud of gas. As the gas accelerates to terrific speeds, it collides with other incoming matter, heats up, and radiates energy at a ferocious rate. A similar flare-up 100 years ago created a burst of light as bright as a million suns; we know because the light echoes are still bouncing around the center of the galaxy. According to radio astronomer Shep Doeleman, the upcoming annihilation event could last for a year or more and rank as "a once-in-a-lifetime event." 

Unfortunately, you can't see it.

Huge as it is, the central black hole is still a thousand times too small to be seen with the Hubble Space Telescope. Plus, it's obscured by interstellar dust that blocks all visible light. But radio waves of about 1 millimeter wavelength can get through.

We should get some neat false color images (like the one above), but I really wish I could see real, visible light images.  Oh well.

California Protects Pedophile Teachers - National Review Online

California Protects Pedophile Teachers | National Review Online

In 2012, the Assembly considered a bill making it easier to fire teachers who sexually abuse students. Consider for a second that word “easier” — should anything be easier than simply firing somebody who molests children? The bill was written in response to the case of a Los Angeles elementary-school teacher who was fired after being accused of sexually abusing his students, and who challenged his firing. Rather than act in accord with thehorrifying details of the case, the school district paid the teacher $40,000 to drop his appeal. That’s small change compared with the $30 million settlement the district is paying to the teacher’s alleged victims as a result of the case, or, for that matter, compared with the $23 million bail requirement that is keeping teacher Mark Berndt behind bars as he awaits trial on 23 felony counts of gruesome sexual abuse. 

Against that background, making it easier to fire teachers facing credible accusations of sexual abuse seems like a pretty straightforward proposition. But the California Teachers Association and other unions presented a united front against a bill passed by the state senate, and it died in the Assembly.

 But we're the crazy ones for home schooling.  Right?  Read the rest at the link, if you have the stomach for it.

Defensive Gun Uses (Part 2)

"Liberals" continue to deny the reality of defensive gun uses.  National media outlets refuse to cover them.  If a psychotic Obamaphile kills 12 people in a "gun free" military installation, he receives international wall to wall coverage (not the Obamaphile part, that would damage the narrative).  But if a pregnant woman in Texas defends herself and her unborn child from two home invaders with a gun... not a peep from the national media. 

In the internet age, however, it's easy to find the coverage local media outlets provide.  Therefore, "Liberals" who claim to not know about defensive gun uses are clearly willfully ignorant.

Let's start with this one from Atlanta.

She said a neighbor armed with a gun of his own came outside and chased the men off after hearing her screams.  

"He pushed me straight down on my chest," Mallory Hastings said.  

"That's when he started to reach in my shirt and tear at my shirt." 

Hastings said she took the $300 she earned in tips that day and handed it over. The men also took her iPhone, purse and identification.  

"I had my hands straight up. When he put the gun to my face and I was just screaming "No, no, no, no, no," Hastings said. 

A neighbor heard those screams and came running outside. Hastings describes the neighbor as ex-military and said he was armed with his own gun as the two men attacking her ran to a car parked nearby and drove off toward Peachtree Road. 

In Rockford, Illinois, an armed home owner stopped two thugs on a crime spree.

A Rockford home-owner fights back after police say the man shot at 2 suspects accused of breaking into 5 homes this morning. The crime-spree happened in the city’s Churchill Grove Neighborhood which is near Harlem Blvd.....Police have arrested an 18-year-old man believed to be responsible multiple burglaries in the Rockford area. 

Antrone Cook was arrested shortly after noon on September 6th, 2013 in the 1300 block of Taylor Street. 

Rockford Police Detectives conducted additional follow up on Cook’s involvement in Residential Burglaries within the City of Rockford. Cook was charged with the following: 

Residential Burglary 804 Soper Avenue (warrant)
Residential Burglary 1804 Genoa Street 

Additional Burglaries cleared as a result of Cook’s arrest include the following: 

733 Hartford (Burglary to Vehicle)
1319 Boilvin (Residential Burglary)
1005 Furman Street (Residential Burglary)
1220 Taylor Street (Residential Burglary)
1507 Sherman Avenue (Residential Burglary)

Elsewhere in Illinois, "gun free" Chicago is the murder capital of the US.  We wouldn't want all those vulnerable South Side residents to have the means with which do defend themselves from all the gang violence in their neighborhoods.

In Jacksonville, Florida, an armed convenience store employee defended himself, his fellow employees, customers and store from two armed robbers.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office responded to a reported robbery late Friday night at Hungry Howie's on Normandy Boulevard. 

According to JSO at the scene, two robbers armed with handguns entered the Hungry Howie's. 

One of the employees of Hungry Howie's then shot at the robbers. One of the robbers is in life-threatening condition and the other robber escaped.  

In Powell, Tennessee, a business owner used a shotgun to defend against a burglar.

A man who was shot Sunday morning as he was allegedly breaking into a Powell business is now charged with theft, criminal trespass, and burglary. 

Michael Johnson, 26, was shot and wounded early Sunday during the alleged break-in at Lett Construction, 101 W Beaver Creek Dr. 

Knox County investigators say James Lett saw Johnson breaking into the business, and when Johnson tried to flee Lett fired three warning shots with a 12-guage shotgun. 

At least one of those shots hit Johnson, but he continued to flee. 

Finally, an oldie but goodie from Texas, in which an armed citizen helped save a police officer in a stand-off with a criminal.

Stacy raised his gun, fired, and landed one hell of a shot – by his estimate “a good 165 yards” – with a pistol (we do not know the make or caliber at this time). Stacy wasn’t even sure if he could make the shot at that distance: “I hope this magnum bullet’ll hold up, you know, this distance. And sure enough it did and I hit him in the thigh.”....Stacy “hit him again and put three more in him … The patrolman got two shots in him with that AR-15. And it seems like he’s all over with, then.”

As always, it's impossible to know how any of these cases would have ended if no armed citizen had been present.  However, we can be reasonably certain that in at least some of these cases, innocent people would've been killed or wounded.

The person best qualified to decide whether or not a gun is the best tool to use against a violent criminal is a person at the scene of the crime, not some distant politician, government bureaucrat or "Liberal" talking head behind multiple layers of armed security guards.

Obama: 'Raising the Debt Ceiling...Does Not Increase Our Debt,' Though It Has 'Over 100 Times' | CNS News

Obama: 'Raising the Debt Ceiling...Does Not Increase Our Debt,' Though It Has 'Over 100 Times' | CNS News

This is why we're broke.

Now, this debt ceiling -- I just want to remind people in case you haven't been keeping up -- raising the debt ceiling, which has been done over a hundred times, does not increase our debt; it does not somehow promote profligacy.  All it does is it says you got to pay the bills that you've already racked up, Congress.  It's a basic function of making sure that the full faith and credit of the United States is preserved.

 It's always a tough vote because the average person thinks raising the debt ceiling must mean that we're running up our debt, so people don't like to vote on it, and, typically, there's some gamesmanship in terms of making the President's party shoulder the burden of raising the -- taking the vote.

That's right.  It's the average American that has trouble understanding reality, not politicians who keep racking up record debt at record rates.


Who falls for this stuff?

We Hop on the 2013 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 - Popular Mechanics

We Hop on the 2013 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 - Popular Mechanics

Popular Mechanics digs the Ninja 1000.

This is a fast, fun bike with a riding position and general character reminiscent of something a London messenger might ride. It has been optimized for dashing around cities and blasts through the countryside. Viewed like that—rather than a bike for someone who isn't quite ready to commit to a superbike—the Ninja's appeal becomes very clear. If more people bought motorcycles with their brains rather than their hearts, Kawasaki would sell plenty of these. 

I also think it's a great bike.   It's a sport bike for people who are more realistic about how they use their sport bikes.  Unfortunately, its gas mileage was pretty lack-luster, especially for a sport-touring bike.  Supposedly, Kawasaki fixed that problem with a taller 6th gear.  I suppose we'll see.

How to do a Clean & Jerk Power Exercise - Paul Stemp

How to do a Clean & Jerk Power Exercise - YouTube

This is what happens when "body sculpting" (what the heck does that mean, anyway?) celebrity trainers gets
a hold of an Olympic lift.



Aimee's response was, "Is this a joke?"  To cleanse the palate, here's Olympic weightlifter, Natalie Burgener, coaching the clean and jerk...



,,,and Olympic weightlifter Chad Vaughn performing a 315 lb clean and jerk.



There.  That's better.

UPDATE: Aw, shucks!  Paul Stemp has removed his video.  You should've seen the comments!

Text Book Changes 2nd Amendment

imgur: the simple image sharer

You can click on the image to make it bigger, if you can't read the words.  In case you've never read it, the actual text of the 2nd Amendment reads:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 

Makes a big difference, doesn't it?  Why are text book authors and editors - and by extension, public school administrators and teachers - lying to kids about what is in the constitution?

I don't know.  But we're the crazy one's for home schooling - right?

Missile Launcher Found In Trash - The Firearm Blog

Missile Launcher Found In Trash - The Firearm Blog

Now there's something you don't see every day (hopefully)!

The military-grade weapon appeared in a recycling bin in Victoria, British Columbia, leaving local residents stumped as to how it got there.

Staff at Hartland recycling landfill called Saanich Police as they were ‘concerned it may be usable’, Sgt Steve Eassie said.

‘At this point it is inert; it is no longer housing what was once a rocket inside the missile launcher,’ he added.

Police have said the ‘Guided Missile System Intercept’ is around four feet long and weighs less than ten pounds (4.5kg).

Defensive Gun Uses (Part 1)

Recently, I watched Piers Morgan's interview with Emily Miller.  During the interview, Ms Miller cited Gary Kleck's study that concluded that Americans use guns to defend themselves from criminals 2.5 million times per year.

Morgan replied that he doesn't believe the figure because "you never see them on the news".  Ms Miller, rightly, responded that media "Liberals" like Morgan suppress news stories about ordinary people using their guns to defend themselves from criminals.  As Ms Miller points out, it's because of this suppression that most Americans don't know that their fellow Americans use guns to defend themselves far more often than criminals use guns to commit crimes.

Fortunately, local news outlets are far more likely to cover DGUs than national media.  Even more fortunately, in the internet age we can access this local coverage from anywhere.  Morgan and his ilk are un-educate-able.  They're willfully ignorant.  They've reached a conclusion, and no amount of facts will convince them otherwise.

But not everyone follows Morgan's example.  Some people actually look at facts align their beliefs with them.  So, I thought I'd start compiling some of the DGUs I see online for those who are willing to look at the facts.

Let's start with Kari Bird.

Kari Bird, a mother of three and a law school student, was returning to her home in Indianapolis, Indiana around 11:30 p.m. last Wednesday when a group of young men approached her, pulled out a gun, and demanded the keys to her vehicle.

Speaking of carjackings, this one almost happened in Houston.

The victim told police he had just rented a couple of movies from the Redbox outside the restaurant when he was forced out of his car and pushed on the ground by two men.
Police said the men were apparently going after the victim’s car. The carjacking victim pulled out a gun and shot both men. One died at the scene while the other one ran away wounded. Police said a third suspect drove away in the getaway car.

In another one from Houston, a homeowner defended his family from a naked home invader.



In another one from Texas, a pregnant woman who used to be anti-gun defended herself from two drugged-up home invaders with a gun her husband insisted she learn to use.

 I was against him buying a gun maybe 7-8 months ago, but I told him, ‘I don’t know if I told you, thank you for doing that’ because it changed the situation completely

Why, yes.  Yes, it did.  A gun is the only tool that gives an ordinary person - even an untrained one - the power to turn the tables on bigger, stronger, even more numerous assailants.

In Little Rock, a pharmacy owner armed with a Glock .45 stopped an attempted robber armed with a machete.

Police are searching for a man who was armed with a machete when he tried to rob a pharmacy last week but was stopped when the owner pulled out a gun.
Police say when the man raised the machete, the shop owner pulled a .45 Glock pistol and the suspect took off.

Like the vast majority of DGU's, this one ended with zero shots fired, which is one reason they don't get reported.  It doesn't bleed, so it doesn't lead.

Here's one that actually made national headlines.  In Missouri, a store clerk who openly carries his pistol stopped an armed robber.  Again, no shots fired.

An armed man entered the store and pointed a gun at Jon Alexander. But the clerk, a 30-year veteran of the military, quickly pushed the robber’s gun away and drew his own — placing the gun at the robber’s mouth.  The would-be robber held his gun at his side and quickly backed out of the store.

Finally (for now), in Kansas City, a home owner defended himself, his wife and their 18-month-old child from an invader, fatally ending the dirt bag's crime spree.

KCTV5

Obviously, we can't know what would've happened to each of these people if they'd been disarmed as "Liberals" desire.  We can be reasonably certain, however, that at least some of them would be dead, some grievously injured.

The question is this: who knows better if an individual facing a dangerous criminal should defend him/herself and his/her family with a gun - the individual facing the criminal, or some distant "Liberal" politician or pundit safe behind an armed security detail?

Guns are the most effective self defense tools available to the ordinary person today.  Those who wish to disarm ordinary people, would deprive ordinary people of the most effective tool with which to defend themselves and their families, thereby violating their right to defend themselves and their families.

Keeping Women Weak

Recently, two articles stood out to me because of their diametrically opposed views on the same subject.  I'll start with the one with which I disagree. 

Getting Models Into Fighting Shape

For models, the former boxer Michael Olajide Jr. is the heavyweight of trainers — the go-to guy for girls who have to get runway-ready in a hurry.  For this fashion week, he trained some 15 models needing to “sleekify,” as he called it, to squeeze into sample sizes. (Most common problem: the hips.)

Oh, hell.  Here we go.

Mr. Olajide, 49, a highly ranked middleweight boxer until an injury left him legally blind in the right eye and ended his career, has been attracting the fashion crowd since his days teaching at Equinox and Chelsea Piers in the 1990s. 

Equinox?  That explains a lot.

Eventually, the 6-foot, 165-pound Mr. Olajide ended up training the supermodels Iman and Linda Evangelista.

Wait... "6-foot, 165-pound"?  Seriously?

What about the clients?

Mr. Olajide acknowledged that the weight can come back on quickly once the workout (and preshow diets) stop. 

“Like boxers, they have a performance weight and an everyday weight,” he said of models. With each season, it can get harder to snap back to sample size. “It becomes: Will they allow themselves mentally to go to that level of discomfort? How hungry are they?” 

Good question.  Just how hungry are they?

The British model Nyasha Matonhodze, 18, started working out at Mr. Olajide’s gym at her agency’s recommendation. “As models, we know that we have to be, some would say, ridiculously thin,” she said. “It’s not exactly a woman’s shape, but it is high fashion.” 

So, they realize they're so skinny that they no longer have "a woman's shape", but they keep doing it anyway.  Does this sound remotely healthy to anyone?  And why are women using women who no longer look like women to sell women's clothes to women?

Exercises that trim mere mortals can be career-maiming for catwalkers. Push-ups are out — developing the chest is bad news

God forbid a woman be strong enough to lift herself off the floor!

— as are squats and lunges, which make the derrière too round to fit into the clothes. (Lingerie models are allowed lunges because they are allowed curves, he said.)

Right; because a flat butt and a rectangular figure are ideal for a woman.

Ab exercises also are rationed. “When they really burn the fat you’ll see a six-pack, which is not usually the goal,” Mr. Olajide said. “You want flat, but if you’re too cut, defined and hard, that can be counterproductive. We want long, willowy, wispy, flowing.”

In other words, weak.

Caitlin Holleran, 16, who in October wore a fitted floor-length chiffon dress on the Yves Saint Laurent runway in Paris, had to shrink her hips back down by two inches this season to match the measurement (34 inches) listed on her modeling card. Among other things, the type of power vinyasa yoga she’d been doing was building too much muscle, she said, adding bulk. 

Are you freaking kidding me?  36-inch hips are too big?  Yoga "was building too much muscle" and "adding bulk"?  And this girl is only 16!

Contrast that with the following irreverently, hilariously titled article.

Women’s Only: “OMG You Have an Amazing Ass”

I recently had a 15-year-old girl come to me for personal training to get her back in

shape before cheerleading started up again in the fall. Having done cheerleading and knowing just how many issues teenage girls can have with their bodies, weight and over-exercising, I’ll admit I was a little worried about what I might be dealing with. 

That girl, however, completely blew me away before our first session was even over. Right off the bat she came across happy, confident and comfortable in her body, and it was clear as soon as I’d put her through some basic exercises that she was pretty capable. In the middle of the session, while I was showing her some technique for her pushups, she just looked at me and said: 

"OMG you have an amazing ass — you look so strong!"

What?  A girl doing push-ups?  Oh, the horror!

This definitely made me laugh, but the message/mentality behind what she said made my entire weekend. For those of you who don’t know me, yes I do have a big butt, and while my legs are by no means huge by CrossFit standards, they’re definitely not small either.

If Yoga builds too much muscle and adds bulk, then "manly" movements, such as push-ups, rope climbs and squats, will obviously turn a girl into the she-hulk - right?

Uh... no, actually.  Not really.  Back to the story. 

For me it took finding CrossFit to finally let go of the “Skinny is Sexy” mentality, and I’m glad that I did; but I’m even more glad that a young girl who has never done CrossFit (or even heard of it) already considers strength way more important and attractive than being a size zero.

Awesome!

I went through high school convinced I needed to be skinny, and it wasn’t until my 20s — when I was introduced to CrossFit and weightlifting — that I realized the fact that my natural body type will always be strong (not petite) and began to accept that. Suddenly I was in a world where where the focus was NOT on
“burning calories,”
“losing weight,” or
“being a size zero.”
Instead I discovered that
performance trumped appearance;training was something you did to get stronger/faster/better; and
you ate to fuel your body 

Doesn't training "to get stronger/faster/better" and eating "to fuel your body" sound healthier than a woman starving herself until she - by her own admission - no longer resembles a woman?

Here's the question I really need to ask all you ladies out there, though, because I can't answer it myself.  Why do women insist on torturing themselves like this?  I don't mean the models.  They've clearly made a cost/benefit analysis.  They believe the money, fame and adulation they (will potentially) receive are worth the sacrifices they make.

Julie Foucher demonstrates the overhead squat.

What I mean is; why do ordinary women insist on torturing themselves by giving the fashion industry the financial incentive to use women who've starved themselves into no longer looking like women to sell them clothes?  Why do ordinary women want to look like them?  As the NYT article makes clear, not even the models themselves can look that way for long.

And don't even try to blame it on us men, ladies!  Heterosexual men do not dominate the fashion
industry.  Women and homosexual men dominate the industry.

Face it, ladies, you are doing this to yourselves - and each other. 

My question is; why?  What's the point?  What do you get out of it - other than eating disorders, a perpetual sense of failure and abject misery?

I don't get it ladies.  I just don't.  Maybe one of you can enlighten me.

Syria Is Different

Remember when it was unconstitutional for a president to send troops to war without congressional approval?

The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. In instances of self-defense, the President would be within his constitutional authority to act before advising Congress or seeking its consent. History has shown us time and again, however, that military action is most successful when it is authorized and supported by the Legislative branch. ~ Sen Barack Obama (D, Il) 2007

Remember when principled members of congress called for the impeachment of a president who might consider military strikes against a foreign country without congressional approval?

“The president has… no…. Constitutional… authority to take this nation to war against a country of 70 million people unless we’re attacked, or unless there is proof that we are about to be attacked,” Biden declared, loud and clear.  ”And if he does, I would move to impeach him.  The House, obviously, has to do that.  But I would lead an effort to impeach him.” ~ Sen Joe Biden (D, De) 2007 

Remember when Bashar Assad was "a reformer"?


Remember when Assad was "generous"?

On March 16, 2011—the day after the first mass demonstration against the regime—John Kerry said Assad was a man of his word who had been “very generous with me.” He added that under Assad “Syria will move; Syria will change as it embraces a legitimate relationship with the United States.” This is the man who might be our next secretary of state.

Remember when Assad was Secretary of State, John Kerry's, "dear friend"?

Staffers describe their collective cringe when, after a motorcycle ride with Bashar al-Assad, he

returned to Washington referring to Bashar as “my dear friend.”

If none of this fills you with confidence, given the current state of affairs, fear not, everything's different now.  But that sets up a whole other set of problems with consistency, doesn't it?

Take it away, Victor Davis Hanson.

Deriding the Iraq war was Obama’s signature selling point... For the last five years, disparagement of “Iraq” and “Bush” has seemed to intrude into almost every sentence the president utters...
His sudden pro-war stance makes a number of hypocritical assumptions. First, the U.S. president can attack a sovereign nation without authorization from Congress (unlike the Iraq war when George W. Bush obtained authorization from both houses of Congress). Even if Obama gets a no vote, he said that he reserves the right to strike.

He does?  How does that square with his statement from 2007?  It doesn't, that's how.  Now, shut up, you racist!

But then, as VDH noted, not much the Pres does now squares with his rhetoric.  Fortunately, Dr Hanson provided us with some examples.

On the perils of going it alone without allies 

“Where the stakes are the highest, in the war on terror, we cannot possibly succeed without extraordinary international cooperation. Effective international police actions require the highest degree of intelligence sharing, planning and collaborative enforcement.” (2004) 

So far no European or Arab nation has offered military support for our planned effort against Syria. 

On the need to obtain UN approval before attacking another country 

“You know, if the U.S. goes in and attacks another country without a U.N. mandate and without clear evidence that can be presented, then there are questions in terms of whether international law supports it, do we have the coalition to make it work, and, you know, those are considerations that we have to take into account.” (2013) 

After misleading the UN in obtaining no-fly-zones for Libya (and then bombing troops on the ground), Obama is not even approaching the UN for a resolution to bomb this time around. 

On the idea that armed intervention is ever a good option 

“I don’t want to just end the war, but I want to end the mindset that got us into war in the first place.” (2008) 

The mindset in Iraq was to stop a genocidal dictator like Saddam Hussein who had gassed his own people — apparently the present mission is to stop the genocidal dictator Bashar Assad, who has gassed his own people. 

On the folly of starting a wrong war to ensure a president’s sinking credibility 

“It’s time to reject the counsel that says the American people would rather have someone who is strong and wrong than someone who is weak and right.” (2008) [Talk about false choices.  It's entirely possible to be both weak and wrong. ~ O.S.]
“That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.” (2002) 

Most believe that we are going to war mostly to restore Obama’s credibility after he issued an ill-advised red line to Syria that he thought would never be crossed — a war, in other words, predicated on “politics.” 

On the dangers of not defining a mission or a methodology 

“I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.” (2002) [As opposed to arming Al-Qaeda, like we did in Libya. ~ O.S.]

“When we send our young men and women into harm’s way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they’re going, to care for their families while they’re gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.” (2004) 

So far we have not articulated the purpose of attacking Syria, the methods of intervention, or the desired outcome of the war — at a time of deep administration cuts to defense, soon to be made worse by sequestration. 

On not intervening in the civil wars and internal affairs of Arab nations 

“The U.S. military has performed valiantly and brilliantly in Iraq. Our troops have done all that we have asked them to do and more. But no amount of American soldiers can solve the political differences at the heart of somebody else’s civil war, nor settle the grievances in the hearts of the combatants.” (2007). 

Syria is currently in “somebody else’s” civil war in which the Assad dictatorship, Hezbollah militias, and Iranian volunteers are battling al-Qaeda affiliates, the Free Syrian Army, and various unknown coalitions of Assad opponents.

There may have been a time, early in the Syrian civil war, when we could have armed rebel groups that sought to establish responsible governance in Syria.  Even if that was ever true - and that's a big if - that time is long past.  Today, the Syrian civil war boils down to a fight between Iran and Al-Qaeda.  Regardless who we back, we back an enemy.