Buying a Car Like Buying a Gun

What if buying a car was like buying a gun?  The Truth About Guns answers the question, at least for Californians. 

With the national debate of gun control again rearing its head, let’s do a quick comparison. Since vehicles kill or injure roughly three times more people a year than guns, let’s suppose we applied the same standards to vehicle operation that we do to guns. We will use California for example. Let’s start with purchasing a vehicle. You need a full background check, must be a citizen or legal resident and have no prohibiting factors in your history. Now you’re going wait 10 days to pick up your vehicle. If you’re buying used, you and the individual selling the vehicle must both go to the dealer for the transfer. Don’t forget the dealer’s fees; after all he has to make money too . . .

This is easy so far, inconvenient but easy. Your 10 days is up, time to pick up your vehicle and drive off. WRONG! Now you must have your vehicle transported to your home in an enclosed and locked trailer and stored in a locked garage. Your 10 gallon fuel tank must be EMPTY during transport, and you better make sure all your garage entrances are childproofed. Keep in mind you have now legally purchased a vehicle and stored a vehicle, your rights are not infringed at all.

That's just the beginning.  There's more.  A lot more.  Read the whole thing.

No politician would ever dream of proposing such onerous regulations for car ownership, because their constituents would never let them get away with it.  Americans love their cars.

But here's the irony.  Driving on public roads is not a right.  It's a privilege.  It's certainly not explicitly protected by the Constitution.

Gun ownership, and the carrying of said guns, is a right explicitly codified in, and protected by, the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution.

Amendment II
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 

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines "infringe" as follows:

in·fringe (verb) \in-ˈfrinj\
: to do something that does not obey or follow (a rule, law, etc.) ( chiefly US )
: to wrongly limit or restrict (something, such as another person's rights)

California's gun laws clearly do not obey or follow the highest law in the land - the US Constitution - and they wrongly limit or restrict Californian's Second Amendment Rights.  California's gun laws, then, infringe the right of the people of California to keep and bear Arms.

California's politicians proposed and passed those laws with the support of the majority of Californians.  That means that a majority of Californians would fight tooth and nail to keep their non-Constitutional privilege to drive, but paid politicians handsomely (politicians like the gun-trafficking Leland Yee) to violate their Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

The same is true of voters from other states that similarly infringe on Second Amendment rights.

Crazy, isn't it?

Miss America Promotes Self Defense, "Feminists" Explode

Nia Sanchez (Nevada), the new Miss USA, just gave "Feminists" a whole new reason to hate pageants. 

Miss Nevada Nia Sanchez, a fourth-degree black belt in the Korean martial art of

Source: NYP

taekwondo, was crowned Miss USA 2014 on Sunday night.

...

Judge Rumer Willis, the 25-year-old daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, said 19 percent of U.S. undergraduate women are victims of sexual assault and asked Sanchez why she thinks this is being swept under the rug and what should be done about it.

Sanchez said bringing awareness to the issue was important, as well as women taking it upon themselves to learn how to defend themselves.

Naturally, "Feminists" - who claim that women are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing - took to Twitter to vent their rage at the idea that women are capable of learning to defend themselves.

Let's apply to other crimes - and to men - the "logic" that "Feminists'" applied to sexual assault and to women.

I'm sorry, but women shouldn't need to take self defense classes to protect themselves from rape #MissUSA—
Peter Simon (@PeterSimon12) June 09, 2014

I'm sorry, but men shouldn't need to take self defense classes to protect themselves from aggravated assault.

Miss Nevada was asked about rape at colleges and answered that women need to learn to defend themselves... OR MEN COULD JUST NOT RAPE.
Anna Garcia (@a_mariagaria) 8 Jun 2014

Miss Nevada was asked about murder in Chicago and answered that men need to learn to defend themselves... OR MURDERERS COULD JUST NOT MURDER.

Miss Nevada described how individuals need to protect themselves from rape, instead of teaching others not to rape. Stop the victim blaming.—
Haley Ploucha (@hallepalouka) June 09, 2014

Miss Nevada described how men need to protect themselves from armed robbery, instead of teaching others not to rob at gunpoint.  Stop the victim blaming.

Women shouldn't need to learn to protect themselves against rape #missnevada  educate and respect yourself as a woman #rapeculture
Anna Beth West (@annabethwest) 8 Jun 2014

Men shouldn't need to learn to protect themselves against home invasions educate and respect yourself as a man (home invasion culture).

Yes, I refuse to use hash tags in my writing.

Sexual assault is a crime.  All crimes are violations of an individual's rights to life, liberty and/or property.  Evil people who violate others' rights have always existed and always will.  Therefore, the need for individuals to defend themselves from evil people has always existed and always will.

It's why we lock our doors.  It's why we buy security systems for our houses and cars.  It's why we avoid high crime areas.  Advising people to take practical precautions to avoid being a victim is not victim-blaming.  That remains true even if the crime is sexual in nature.

It's also why our Bill of Rights includes the Second Amendment.

The Second Amendment protects the individual's right to own the most effective self defense tools available - firearms - so that the individual may defend him/herself from those who would violate his/her rights - whether the violators are ordinary criminals or criminal governments.

In fact, the worst thing I can say about Nia Sanchez's response is that she failed to mention using a gun in self defense.  Nobody's perfect.

But the vast majority of "Feminists" abhor the Second Amendment.

I guess the idea of a woman having the power to effectively defend herself against her attacker(s) is just too empowering for the average "Feminist" to consider.

Ironic Dave Ramsay

I was listening to Dave Ramsay in the car today.  One of his callers asked advice on paying off her and her husband's combined $200,000+ student loan debt on a combined $65,000/year income.  Her debt alone totaled $150,000.  Her $150,000 degree was in...

...wait for it!...

...economics!

You can't make this stuff up!

Instapundit » Blog Archive » MALE PRIVILEGE, CIRCA 1944:

Instapundit » Blog Archive » MALE PRIVILEGE, CIRCA 1944:

Glenn Reynolds is as pithy and poignant as ever.

EBR 1190RX - Erik Buell Racing | On Two Wheels - YouTube

EBR 1190RX - Erik Buell Racing | On Two Wheels - YouTube

Contrary to Zack Couts' narration, the real question is not whether EBR's new bike is any good.  The real question is whether EBR's new bike is good enough to compete with the best from Japan, Italy and Germany.



Wait... Americans contending with Japan, Italy and Germany?  Where have I heard that before?

Champion Boxer Trains With CrossFit Coaching Staff

Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero has an incredible resume.

Robert Joseph Guerrero (born March 27, 1983 in Gilroy, California) is an American professional boxer. Nicknamed The Ghost, he is the current interim WBC welterweight champion. He is also a former IBF Super Featherweight world champion, a former interim WBA and WBO lightweight champion and a former two-time IBF featherweight champion. He vacated the IBF Super Featherweight belt due to his wife's battle with leukemia. Guerrero's coach is Ruben Guerrero. He is managed by both Bob Santos and Luis Decubas Jr.

In case you weren't counting, those are six different championships in four different weight classes.  After going undefeated since 2006, he lost to Floyd Mayweather on 4 May 2013.

Apparently, Guerrero thought part of the reason he lost to Mayweather is that - in stepping up to a higher weight class - he simply could not out-fight a bigger, stronger athlete who is also arguably one of the most talented boxers ever.

He doesn't explain how, but Guerrero happens to know Dave Castro, former Navy SEAL and CrossFit HQ's programming director.  Castro somehow convinced Guerrero to make CrossFit his strength and conditioning program.  Warning: cursing ahead.



Castro chose Brian "Tosh" Chontosh to train Guerrero.

Major Brian R. Chontosh (born 1974 in Rochester, New York) is a retired United States Marine Corps officer who was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic actions during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. At the time, he was a platoon commander for Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division.

You can watch part of a presentation Tosh gave to the American Society of Exercise Physiologists here.



If I could choose anyone to coach any athlete, I think the first thing I'd do is ask Kelly Starrett to identify inefficiencies in his movement and fix them.  Here's a video of Starrett explaing pull-up mechanics.



Tosh did that, but Starrett is the master when it comes to the mechanics of athletes.  Also, boxers need to stay loose to be quick, and Starrett is the the mobility guru.

I like that Castro brought in Chris Spealler.  Spealler wrestled in college, so he's well acquainted with combative sports.  Perhaps even more importantly, the CorssFit Games have no weight classes, and at 5'5" and 150 lb, Spealler is accustomed to using efficiency to beat much bigger, stronger athletes.

You can watch a perfect example of that in this video of the 2010 CrossFit Games event named "Amanda", which pairs two very technical movements, muscle-ups and snatches.


Where bigger, stronger athletes muscled their way through those movements, then fatigued near the end and were no longer able to do so, Spealler's impeccable technique made him more efficient, wasting much less energy and carrying him through the end with what looks like ease (it isn't, but Spealler makes it look easy).

Spealler is also an outstanding coach, which you can see from the Guerrero video.  I really would've liked to see Spealler as Guerrero's strength and conditioning coach.  Anyway, I'm not as familiar with Tosh, but I'm sure he's doing a great job.

My favorite part of the Guerrero video, though, is where they talk with his head coach (and father), Ruben.

I like what I see... he's using his hips.  He's bending, punching up, and that's more explosive right there... And before it was really hard to get him to do that.  He wouldn't really do it.  He would do it, but only when I told him to do it. 

At the CrossFit Level 1 seminar I attended, the coaches preached over and over that the most powerful movements begin at the hips and radiate outward to the extremities.  That is true whether one trows a ball, swings a bat or throws a punch.  Spealler makes that point very clear in the video.  The best way to train that physical adaptation (regardless of ones sport) is to first strengthen the hips using squats and deadlifts, then increase power and coordination with the Olympic lifts.  Sport-specific training then applies the adaptation to the skills necessary to compete in the sport.

CrossFit HQ makes some big claims about what CrossFit can do for an athlete, and they've always insisted on testing their claims.  The CrossFit Games are the ultimate testing ground for those claims, but few world champions have been willing to apply CrossFit to their training.  That makes sense.  After all, if their current programming made them champions, changing it could mean flirting with disaster.

Robert Guerrero will fight Yoshihiro Kamegai on 21 June 2014 at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA, where the 2014 CrossFit Games will take place from 25-27 July, appropriately enough.  We'll get to see then if CrossFit can really make a world champion even better.

Actually, we'll really get to see that if/when Guerrero fights Mayweather again.  Good luck, Ghost!

Can we mere mortals who'll never be world champions at anything learn from Guerrero's training?  Yes.  Tosh evaluated Guerrero's movement, identified inefficiencies and weaknesses, then spent a lot of time training him on technique before going heavy or adding a lot of volume.

CrossFit HQ emphasizes over and over that we should work on technique first, then add intensity, then add volume.  Too many coaches and athletes neglect that progression with disastrous results.  They skip right over technique, jump head first into intensity or - even worse - volume, and injure themselves.  Then they blame CrossFit, even though they failed to follow CrossFit's prescription.

So, remember, whether you're a champion (like Guerrero) or ordinary (like me), the progression and priority goes:

1. Technique
2. Intensity
3. Volume

Happy training! 

Even More Rippetoe on PJ Media... and the NYT!

I've really been slacking on writing.  Hey, it's a hobby, not a job.  Let's get to the important stuff.  As always, follow the links to read the articles in their entirety. 

First, Coach Rip explains the difference between training and working out.

From PJ Media

That makes “working out” the same thing as “exercise.” The term “exercise” best describes a physical activity performed for the sake of the effect it produces on your body today — right now — or immediately following the workout. If you’re just exercising, the workout itself is the point. Yoga, Pilates, cardio on the treadmill, a group class of any kind — basically punching your time card at the gym is “exercise.” For most people, “exercise” probably involves doing the same thing in the gym every time you go, because the effect is predictable. You want to get hot, sweaty, and tired, because it makes you feel that something positive has occurred. And it has. For many people, the acute effect of “exercise” is all that is necessary for an improvement in their physical wellbeing. 

The modern fitness industry is built exclusively around the “exercise” model.

...

“Training” is the process of moving from one state of physical preparedness to another. The individual workouts that compose the elements of the process are important not in and of themselves, but because their cumulative effect accomplishes a specific definable physical goal. 

To an athlete who is “training” for a performance goal, be it a marathon or a weightlifting meet, the accumulated, increasing stress that characterizes “training” must be specific to the performance goal. This means that “training” must be carefully planned in advance to produce a specific adaptation at a specific point in time. This planning differentiates “training” from “exercise.”

 In other words, training is physical activity with a purpose - an end goal - in mind.  I'd add that, even if you're not a competitive athlete, even if you don't plan to run a marathon or compete at a weightlifting meet, training with a purpose is the way to go.  Set a reasonable goal (even if it seems arbitrary at first) and train for it.  Achieving a goal is motivating, and will help you stick with your program.

I disagree with Coach Rip on one point.

Corporate gyms are counting on you to come in about three days per week, mess around on the machines for 20 minutes, ride the treadmill while you watch television for 30 minutes, hit the sauna, the shower, and then the parking lot. They want you there for an hour, they want you to bring in a friend to sign up, and then they want you gone.

Actually, corporate gyms count on you to not come in.  Their business model is built on the fact that as many as 4/5 people don't use their gym memberships.  If everyone with a gym membership actually used them, the gyms wouldn't have enough room for their clients.  That's how they keep their membership fees low.

Next, Coach Rip explains why you shouldn't be doing LSD.  No, not acid (although that too is advisable)!  He means, "long, slow distance", which is - traditionally - the cornerstone of endurance training.  In this case, he begins with a caveat.

If you are a competitive distance runner or cyclist who is serious about your sport, this article has not been written for you. This highly informative discussion is intended for those people who have taken seriously the advice of doctors, physical therapists, exercise physiologists, and the popular media’s dutiful reporting on these sources of common misinformation about what kind of physical activity is best for your long-term health and continued ability to participate in the business of living well.

He then explains why "cardio" isn't as beneficial as we've been led to believe.  For example:

From PJ Media: This does not look like LSD.

The cumulative effects of high-volume low-intensity work are catabolic, i.e. they produce a metabolic environment that is destructive of lean muscle mass. It’s not merely that running does not produce more muscle size and strength; running at high mileages actively destroys muscle mass. This is why elite cyclists and marathoners have a ribcage that is visible through their corporate sponsorship jerseys. 

The high-mileage cyclist is always trying to recover from training, but by its very nature high-volume endurance work is extremely difficult to recover from. When you’re 25, it’s no big deal. When you’re 40, it’s a bigger deal. When you’re 60, it’s a potentially very bad deal. 

He also explains (again) what makes strength training so beneficial.  For example:

Strength training works in two separate ways, that are actually impossible to separate. 

First, the exercises teach your nervous system to more efficiently use your muscles. Untrained muscles are reluctant to participate fully when asked to contract, and one of the ways strength training makes you stronger is by teaching your nervous system to call more of your muscle fibers into contraction when you work against a load. 

Strength training also builds muscle mass, because a bigger muscle generates more force than a smaller muscle. And muscle mass is the body’s metabolic “bank.” It is the storehouse of protein and amino acids, carbohydrate, and water. Muscle mass is where energy stored as fat is converted to movement and heat. 

Numerous studies have shown that the loss of strength and muscle mass is a predictor of mortality, not just in an aging population but also as the result of acute loss due to injury or immobilization. For examples: 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17537093
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2453303/
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/86/5/1339.fullS
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10795731
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19366909 

It’s hard to separate these two effects because the body adapts to a force-production stress by adapting both of these strength mechanisms at the same time. The body adapts to stress by getting better at handling it, and since strength is a function of both muscle size and nervous system efficiency, both improve together.

The article leaves unanswered a question I assume many people would have: what to do if one wishes to improve strength and endurance?  The answer is interval training.  In the following video, you can see Jason Khalipa - a 220 lb professional athlete who can move serious weight - improving his endurance by running 10 intervals of 800 meters (1/2 mile) with a 1:1 work:rest ratio.


Jason's endurance training was so effective that he took first place in the 1/2 marathon rowing event at the 2013 CrossFit games.

That brings up another point.  Contrary to what my high school cross country coach told me, LSD should not be the cornerstone of endurance training.  Intervals should be.  I highly recommend CrossFit Endurance for those who want to train for endurance sports, but don't want to make themselves weak.

I don't want to give the impression that one can win a marathon one week and a weightlifting meet the next, but as Jason Khalipa and every other CrossFit Games competitor demonstrate, it is possible to train for both strength and endurance.

Now the fun stuff.  Coach Rip explains how to build your own gym at home and why.

Not everybody who wants to train for strength can fit a gym membership into their lifestyle. Scheduling problems, the cost, travel problems from home or work, the absence of an adequately equipped facility in the market, or simply the dislike of a commercial gym environment motivates many people to invest in a home gym. 

A serviceable home gym for barbell training need not be a gigantic investment, and in fact should be very simple. A bar, some plates, a rack of some type to facilitate the squat and the pressing exercises, a simple flat bench for the bench press, and a platform for deadlifts are all that is absolutely required. For power cleans and snatches, a few bumper plates are quite useful but not absolutely necessary.

From Rogue Fitness

Coach Rip recommends Rogue Fitness and Elite Fitness.  Rogue, in particular, has all kinds of cool ideas for home gyms.  They typically include lots of conditioning equipment, not just the strength training equipment that Coach Rip lists, but one can add or subtract whatever equipment one wants.

I plan on building a home gym in the near future.  I'll post pics when I finally get around to it.

Finally, to the New York Times.  No, Coach Rip isn't writing for the NYT, but a NYT author discovered Starting Strength.

The book came in the mail and then I went to the gym and, per Mr. Rippetoe’s instructions, did three sets of five reps in the squat, dead lift and standing press. Then I went home and drank milk. Two days later, I did three sets of five in the squat and the bench press. I repeated this basic pattern, alternating the dead lift with the power clean, for a year, adding a little more weight to the bar in every lift, during every session. 

Now for the astonishing part: It worked. I was able to lift a tiny bit more every single time, like magic — or, rather, like Milo of Croton, the ancient Greek wrestler who is said to have lifted a newborn calf and then lifted it every day thereafter, as it grew, until Milo carried a full-grown bull. In my own case, I eventually squatted 285 pounds, dead-lifted 335 and bench-pressed 235. Those numbers will not impress strength coaches — I weighed 215, after all — but they were a marvel to me.

The human body hasn't changed all that much since prehistory.  The basics in old Milo's day are still the basics today.  We have more precise equipment than he did, but lifting heavy things in slowly increasing increments is still the best way to grow stronger.

Amazing, isn't it?