wow 2 right out of 12 not very impressive. Good thing neither Al Gore or the unabomber's opinions really matter to me. Happy rest day Jim

pretty stupid article.

gore is a legal and political scholar of the highest intellect. amazing that he's at the receiving end of this kind of dribble.

67%! Hooah! mwu (#3) lighten up and take the quiz, this is hilarious!

I'd like to see "Who Said It, Bush or a Texan high-school drop out".

The humor value would be greater.

i would like to know what the point of this article is, other than a smear attack on gore.

here's another quiz that illustrates the utter stupidity of the gore-unabomber comparison. who said the following, hitler or bush? --

"Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong."

"There's no bigger task than protecting the homeland of our country."

"Home is important. It's important to have a home."

"Strength lies not in defense but in attack."

dribble?

I got 75%. After the first couple, I realized that if I chose the most insane sounding answer, laced with the most venom...I knew it was Gore.

That's pretty sad. He WAS a respectable man at some point.

-Dennis

Great video... But you can't put into pic's just how awesome of a weekend that was.

I like the pop-quiz. It's funny how many "Bush Bashers" like to run their "Suck Pumps" and slam President Bush. But the minute an article, or in this case a quiz, comes up that questions their dribble they get all BUTT-HURT and go on the offensive.

I'm sure Al Bore... Errrr... Al Gore is a very smart man. I mean he did invent the Internet. Right? (He said he did anyways.) I got 8% on the quiz. That goes to show just how much I know about him and the Uni-bombers quotes. And you know what? I'm OK w/that. I sleep better at night knowing he's not in the White House.

So just relax and pull your panties out of where ever they maybe. It's all meant in fun. I'm sure you all have a 1000 Bush jokes you're just waiting to use in support of Gore. Who knows, some of them may even be funny.

Thanks again to all who attended the last two seminars. It was truly a great experience for all who attended. Trainers and attendees as well.

33%. Not impressed. I think I may have given Gore too much credit when it came to not being crazy... I thought the really outlandish ones must have been the Unabomber. 33% says I was wrong.

Great video, and excellent choice of music, that track is a personal favorite of mine.

58% Ha! Great quiz.....

Al Gore couldn't carry his home state. If Al was from Montana, odds are Ted Kaczynski wouldn't have voted for him either.

Cheap shot. There has never been any doubt that sound ideas, or bad ones, or the thought processes to back either one up can exist in both the moral and immoral. Borgia and Henry V also had similar commentary, but they weren't quite on equivalent footing. Hilter quoted Malthus, but I doubt the latter would have approved of the former. Did anyone ever doubt the Unabomber, when he wasn't blowing people up, was a smart man? For all the fun we had with "correlation not equally causation," I hope everyone recognizes the few different logical fallacies implied this could be characterized as.

And yes, I did get the point, and yes it was funny. But Gore has gotten a little more factual from the "earth in the balance days," and as for a good topic for reasoned discussion...mmmm....maybe not.

Okay, so that was a bit venomous, and clumsily worded. My apologies. But still...can we use facts, please?

oops, the article is absolute drivel (not dribble). thanks to acl.

Wow, 25% on the quiz - right on the heels of getting a postcard from a friend urging me to watch Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth. Anyone seen it?

Although I can't claim to be a Gore supporter, I am getting increasingly annoyed by the attitude of so many people who feel entitled to consume resources at will without considering the repercussions.

For me it's not a left or right issue - I just enjoyed the fresh air and scenery on my 10K run tonight and would hate to lose it.

Way to go Coach. One of the best rest day posts yet. Although I really tried, I still only got 1/3 right. Too bad. As has already been said, with the Bush bashing that's been going on since 2000, and with the warm reception "An Inconvenient Truth" and Alger has received from the media, a little turn about is fair play.

Who said this, the Unabomber or George Bush?

"there are WMDs in Iraq!"

Very interesting quiz. I got 4 out of 12, and I've read the entire Unabomber Manifesto (though that was years ago.)

I'm all excited that I scored so high compared to some people. I can finally say I beat DJ on a WOD. ;)

The issue this seems to bring up is that the rhetoric of some mainstream politicians is similar to that of terrorists. I suppose one could say the same about some liberterian rhetoric, by the way... though I'd be hardpressed to use the word Libertarian and mainstream in the same sentence.

I remember reading an article a really long time ago, written in a very radical (leftist) anti-racist newsletter, that was describing a common theme which led to "bad things happening" (for lack of a better term) and the three things were people/parties, etc. that 1) idealize the past 2) demonize the present 3) think a lot of people have to die to get us back to the past.

I think that the difference between Gore and the Unabomber is #3.

Before going further with this, just want to point some things out before I get slammed :) -- I'm a huge tree hugger. My bumper sticker used to say "tree hugging dirt worshipper" I was a docent at the botanical gardens, I wildcraft my own medicine, plant native trees, have studied permaculture, spent four months living in a tent and longer travelling all over the desert Southwest to see how people were using rainwater catchement systems, I harvest my own rainwater and use greywater from my washing machine, I grow my own food in a community garden, I sow native revegitation mixes and I spread seed balls. I reduce, reuse, recycle, compost, and try to eat organic. I collect heirloom seeds. Etc. etc. etc.

BUT I've also studied eco-fascism, and so I know the other side. Hitler himself was very interested in "the eternal laws of nature's processes" and describing how helpless humankind was in the face of nature.

Here's a quote from Mein Kampf:

(People) "owe their higher existence, not to the ideas of a few crazy ideologists, but to the knowledge and ruthless application of Nature's stern and rigid laws." Among these 'laws': "Nature usually makes certain corrective decisions with regard to the racial purity of earthly creatures. She has little love for bastards."

Something to think about.

comment #20: "The issue this seems to bring up is that the rhetoric of some mainstream politicians is similar to that of terrorists."

Or that the Unabomber made a few reasonable points even though he was a terrorist.

#20-Treelizard
I've always wondered about your screen name,and now we know!

If this was a sports game, and both teams played acording to the rules, then indeed an equal amount of "bashing" would also be fair. As far as players need to be bashed.

However, this isn't about competing teams. This is about Wallstreet setting up world domination (through resources), and on the one hand sheople who ignore it for a sense of community/stability, and on the other hand people who are very annoyed with it. Throughout history, people have been annoyed when another collective takes a shot at world domination. While the rest just waits untill the situation turns against them, before they act.

Seems like one every century. Once you get a reasonabily sized country, its arisocracy starts forming ideas about expansion and competion, and before you know it they have developed an allergy for anyone other than them having access to wealth.

Wallstreet has nothing to be annoyed at, b/c they run everything, and they are the ones creating the situation. It's like saying the rap-ee should get the same punishment as the rapist. As if they were two equal competitors in a voluntairy, and fair competition.

BTW, as far as character assasination goes, this one is pretty lame. Hey, who said this:

"Yes, I would like some milk in my coffee."

Was it a liberal, or Satan? Huh, huh, think about it. Reminds me of the who flip flop thing. Argumentation so stupid, you can't really offer a rational rebuttle. Unless they can prove that Gore intends to blow up stuff, putting even more CO2 in the atomphere, it says nothing.

Anybody who read the Unabomber's manifesto years ago was struck by how articulate he was and his keen analysis of many issues facing modern industrialized society--the wickedness and tragedy was not in his premises, it was in the conclusions for action he drew from them. Gore's conclusions, on the other hand, are for the most part quite reasonable, and hindsight is showing them ever more so.

Jesse #20:
How reasonable are the points if they lead to terrorism? Or if terrorists can use those points for their own agenda?

Denver Sheepdog #21:
I just really love treelizards!! I'm very good at spotting them and they always run away before I can show 'em to other people. They follow me around... plus they can do more push-ups than I can. :)

Paolo #23: I read the manifesto and it made me sick to my stomach. Premises, btw, lead to conclusions. And the manifesto was all about "overthrowing the economic and technological basis of society."

I thought this part of the Manifesto was telling though:

"13. Many leftists have an intense identification with the problems of groups that have an image of being weak (women), defeated (American Indians), repellent (homosexuals), or otherwise inferior. The leftists themselves feel that these groups are inferior. They would never admit it to themselves that they have such feelings, but it is precisely because they do see these groups as inferior that they identify with their problems. (We do not suggest that women, Indians, etc., ARE inferior; we are only making a point about leftist psychology)." --Unabomber's Manifesto

So just a question here--by this logic, is environmentalism considered inferior? Does seeing the earth as inferior lead to identity with it?

Unabomber Manifesto again:

Leftists tend to hate anything that has an image of being strong, good and successful. They hate America, they hate Western civilization, they hate white males, they hate rationality. The reasons that leftists give for hating the West, etc. clearly do not correspond with their real motives. They SAY they hate the West because it is warlike, imperialistic, sexist, ethnocentric and so forth, but where these same faults appear in socialist countries or in primitive cultures, the leftist finds excuses for them, or at best he GRUDGINGLY admits that they exist; whereas he ENTHUSIASTICALLY points out (and often greatly exaggerates) these faults where they appear in Western civilization. Thus it is clear that these faults are not the leftist's real motive for hating America and the West. He hates America and the West because they are strong and successful. (end)

Again, does the Unabomber hate civilization because it is strong and successful?

And by the way, as I mentioned, I LOVE the Earth.

But I have lived with technology, and I have lived without technology. And I prefer technology.

Treelizard- Good job on the score. See, not only your times are improving. Keep up the good work. Both w/the WOD's and w/keeping it real in your own way.

33% Holy Mackerel! I can't tell these nut jobs apart.

To his credit, at least the Unabomber was not a hypocrite.

Al Gore is definitely NOT a legal or policital scholar of the highest intellect. Closer to the truth to say he is a rather dim bulb. A less than ordinary student as an undergrad. 5 Fs out of 8 courses while flunking out of divinity school, DNF at law school, has refused to release his SAT scores.

DJ, oh go on with you!!! I thought about it and realized a lower score on the quiz is actually better, so you beat all of us again, you stud. ;)

Dan MacD--you don't think the Unabomber was a hypocrite? What about paragraph 21 where he railed on leftists for pretending their activism is motivated by moral principle when really it was due to hostility and a drive for power? Takes some pretty interesting rationalization to justify blowing people up on moral grounds I'd say...

Al Gore is also a huge hypocrite, btw, with his hundreds of thousands of dollars stake in Occidental Petroleum, the company that drills on land in Colombia that is (was) sacred to the U'wa tribe.

And Bush is a huge hypocrite too, and has really hurt his anti-environmental stance by creating the largest marine sanctuary in the WORLD, 140,000 square miles, protecting lots of endangered sea animals. The largest act of ocean conservation in history.

When I was studying wilderness survival, the rule that was most often touted when trying to decide whether to drink that water or eat that roadkill was "What's gonna kill you first." To me this means that the right to bear arms supercedes the need to protect the earth. Sorry.

what was the music in that video? Sounds like Perry Farrell. Whatever happened to him?

#22 Pieter-Jan:

Since when is Wall Street some sort of unitarily-directed organization? The consumption problem is about mercantilism - competition - not some grand conspiracy.

I think we all would agree that we should consume less (and I'm not just talking food here).

The article was cute, and only points to Gore's growing extremism. He really was not well-thought of in Tennessee, where he got his first break because his father (Al Gore, Sr.) was very popular. In my opinion, he is an ignorant (uninformed or misinformed) idealist.

I've heard that there are four types of people in the world broken into two intersecting categories: smart/dumb and industrious/lazy. The worst kind are the dumb, industrious individuals, who should be eliminated with extreme prejudice. (Thanks Matt M!)

mwu (#2) wrote:
"pretty stupid article.

gore is a legal and political scholar of the highest intellect. amazing that he's at the receiving end of this kind of dribble."

A legal and political scholar of the highest intellect? Great...if we're comparing scholarly background and intellect, I suspect that Kaczynski might actually beat out Gore. He (Kaczynski) skipped grades (6th and 11th) due to his high intellect, it's been said that his IQ is in the neighborhood of 160-170. He graduated from Harvard at 20. Then he went to the University of Michigan, where he received both a Masters and a PhD in mathematics. One of his professors there was quoted as saying "It is not enough to say he was smart." He earned his PhD by writing a proof (one his professors couldn't) that "perhaps 10 or 12 people in the country understood or appreciated." He was also published multiple times.

Laziness isn't going to score you any points mwu...you might want to get your facts straight before opening your mouth.

Bush haters make me laugh. They never have rational arguments and would blame him if they fell down the stairs.

#29 Sorry but I do not agree that we should all consume less. The quest for more, not accepting the limits of the status quo, is what has driven human progress, it the reason we are not still living in caves (although some of us may be trying to replicate their diets).

It is an ideology of low horizons that suggests we should all settle for what we've got or even move back to some "simpler" lifestyle.

Hey this is fun to take quotes out of context. Here are two more. Without the use of the internet, take a guess at who said which one. Rush Limbaugh or Timothy McVeigh. Come on, just try it. This is fun.

Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or ill
it teaches the whole people by its example.

You know why there's a Second Amendment? In case the government fails to follow the first one.

fun stuff!

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take

http://www.people.virginia.edu/%7Ejac3he/GiveUpQuiz/hitlercoulterquiz.html

50% right which is no more than chance.

Who knew the Unabomber was such a decent guy! Unabomber for President!

more importantly and timely, here's this about Carl Brashear...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5585788

17%. ugh. conclusion: Al Gore is a nut and Ted Kaczinski missed his political calling.

What I love the most is how the mass media still manipulates people in order to get a response. Democrats. Republicans. What's the difference? I take my butt to work every day and do the best I can. Is Bush any smarter than Kerry? I don't know and don't really care. Life's short. Stop taking everything so seriously. You might be dead by the end of the day!

Dennis, #7,

That's hilarious. I used the same criteria and came up with the same score!

Coach, you facist! How dare you defame enviro-hero AlGore! What gives you the right to speak your mind?

I always find it amusing that those who blast Coach's articles for not giving their point of view never seem to have anything nice to say about President Bush. Maybe one of you can explain why it's okay to hold Coach to a higher standard than you hold yourselves.

To be fair, there is no proof that Al Gore is the Unabomber.

Seriously, Al Gore is a smart guy. So is the Unabomber...and nobody ever questioned his intellect, only his sanity. And only his sanity because of his actions.

With all of that, I think the quiz is quite funny.

50%! a pass!

Better than my 10K score anyway

Wahoo I got 42%

Markb #32,

I would argue that we should strive for better, not for more. Way back when when more was needed for survival, more was better. But now we don't need more cars, we need better cars. We don't need more food, we need better ways to grow and distribute the food.

Remember al gore aligns himself with groups like moveon.org. He has no credibility!

Treelizard, thanks for the thoughtful commentary. Reason and objectivity are rare qualities.

Funny quiz. As several other posts have mentioned, quotes pulled from various contexts are exceedingly difficult to assign. Not too surprised at my poor score.

Not looking forward to my 10k make-up today.

Very funny ... and though!

This is the kind of unserious political comments that infest true democratic processes. Not that 'pulling an opponents leg' or plain making fun of your political counterpart should in any way be forbidden, but one's gotta think twice before you set a standard so low, that you undermine the political environment you want to use for the good of everybody – also those you doesn't agree with.

Get serious!

Just went thru W/O #2 last nite. You guys really take "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger" literally. Lol, I'll be back for #3 when I can straigthen my arms again!

I got a 42%. Funny quiz though.

Treelizard,

I only meant that Gore emits considerably more CO2 and pollution, and uses more energy and resources than the Unabomber.

The Unabomber lived in a cabin, more or less a hermit.

Al Gore jets around the world, and rides around in big black Chevy Suburbans with Secret Service escorts also in big black Chevy Suburbans, wears expensive clothes, and generally consumes considerably more of his share of Gaia's precious resources that the average person. He needs to reduces his energy use and carbon emissions.

17% right.
You know there is a quiz like this that compares Ann Coulture to Hitler. You know just to please everyone. I wouldn't mind reading the comments that rest day.

Everybody just watch out for the Manbearpig.

-Jeremy

42%, oh well.

treelizard, one of the things I enjoy about Rest Day articles (apart from the fact that they come exercise free) is getting to hear differing points of view. Today, I found your posts particularly well grounded and appreciate your candor and ability to separate your beliefs with the practical ramifications of your everyday existence. That may not be said very well, but I hope you get the point.

Also, "tree hugging dirt worshipper" is totally hilarious :)! Would that be similar to an "activist granola"? :-)

Keep it up!

75%...good thing I crammed last night for this. Ha...Unibomber had some interesting points...although pretty much it's a huge difference between what you believe and what you actually do....he got that one all wrong. I don't think Budha would of been as popular if he said "all around us is precious life and peace" and then ran around stomping on all the butterflies cause they "pissed him off". As for Gore...he'll be doing movies and dating Jennifer Anniston, much better gig.

Either way, if 1000 people want to loan me a $1 so I can go to the Atlanta certification please feel free. Sucks having it right in my backyard and having no mula to go.

Treelizard
Uh-oh...perhaps another day where I don't necessarily disagree with what you've posted. :)

In comment 24 you write:
Again, does the Unabomber hate civilization because it is strong and successful?

In that paragraph (having never read the Manifesto), I understand the UB to be addressing the apparent hypocrisy of the left more than anything else. While the UB might hate civilization, I posit that (based on the miniscule portion I read here), that he hates leftist hypocrites more.

My limited understanding is that the UB disliked technology and civilization more for what it was doing to people and the planet, not necessarily because it was "strong and successful".

BTW, I am a dirt-shooter v. your dirt-worshipper. Can we still be friends? :)

I scored 58% (or was it 56%?)...certainly it was giggle-worthy. I'm not sure there's any better measure of intelligence/sanity in this world than whether a person/group (on any point of the political/religious/etc. spectrum) is able to accept and/or enjoy a laugh at their own expense. For example...I'm fairly certain radical muslim terrorists are incapable of enjoying such a thing. That's why I love seeing the reactions on rest.days.

FWIW...if we're comparing Gore and the Unabomber, Al probably loses in a straight intellectual showdown. One could certainly suggest that he (Gore) is more "accomplished"...but he's an accomplished politician. Which is (in my very cynical view) essentially saying that he's an accomplished liar. Hardly something to celebrate.

great video on the training seminar...looks like it was lots 'o fun!

17%

50% completed in 1:32 minutes

To all the people who find no problem with dumping fossil fuels into our automosphere; why don't you take up smoking? hmm...

does anyone know where I can find the housewives video.

36 years old
180 lbs,
AS rx'd: 33%

I actually agree with #54. Well put.

#58 Maybe I'll take your advice, because I do enjoy driving, heating my home, mowing my yard (weed wacking too), blowing off my deck and patio. One of my kids even has a dirt bike.

Ryan

FYI all you Gore worshippers, Gore had a strip mine on his property in Tenessee that he was paid handsomely for, which I do not have a problem with... How good is that for the earth?

42%

I gave you the other half of the 10K today, Coach! 27:13

-Dennis

33% going to make up the day befores WOD pull -ups. if anyone is in the cleveland area CFing and would like to get together drop me an email

33% going to make up the day befores WOD pull -ups. if anyone is in the cleveland area CFing and would like to get together drop me an email

Sorry, didn't find it nearly as entertaining as the "Sexual predator or serial killer?" quiz.
Now that's entertainment.

This quiz was just boring. But then, both subjects are so 2000.

Right on Alfie!

17%

33% very weak effort by myself. I need to train harder!

I voted for Gore but ever since he lost the election he talks more than he thinks. Lots of babble. That's one thing I hate to hear. Lots of talking without a clear objection. Many think the more you speak the better it sounds. That's one thing about Bush that I like. Granted there are a lot of things I don't like about Bush too. And he does say a number of dumb things. Just like any other politician just not as eloquent. Being eloquent does not equate to being smarter just like being rich does not make you more stylish (i.e.nice hair Donald Trump)

But let's be fair a similar test comparing two different people with similar comments will get a 50% average too. But it still was a funny test.

65% for the coulter/hitler test..@ least I'm improving

Treelizard rules! Well done. Now if only they had created a similar quiz pitting the Unabomber against Sean Hannity or Richard Perle, using the quotes you provided...

Isn't this the same kind of selective use of facts and lack of critical thinking that now has us bogged down in Iraq, watching Lebanon and Israel go to war, North Korea escalate its production of nuclear weapons, the Taliban and militia groups taking over Afghanistan, increased militancy in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Syria, and the spread of Islamic fascism to formerly peaceful countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan?

Ooops...I guess I was supposed to laugh at the quiz. Sorry. Maybe it would be funnier if the same logic weren't employed in Washington and in our foreign policy...

50%

Can't say that I really understand the point of the quiz, other than to take a cheap political shot.

It's pretty clear that Gore's position in Earth In The Balance (published 13 years ago) takes pretty radical positions on the environment. Anyone surprised by this hasn't been paying attention. Nevertheless, comparing Gore to a paranoid schitzophrenic murderer is such a despicable act of intellectual dishonesty as to merit absolutely no respect at all.

I completely understand anyone's objection to Gore's political philosphy, style, attitude, or whatever. But I consider this to be pretty much unworthy of discussion. Coach, I value your attempt to bring interesting and alternative viewpoints to the table on rest days, but this is pretty crappy.

Jesse #20,

I believe it was Bill Clinton, and the intelligence agencies of every Country in Europe, who said "There are WMDs in Iraq".

Still, this is perhaps the weakest rest-day post in the history of rest-day posts. I have been sent emails that ended with "Forward this to 10 people and you will get rich too" that were more useful.

This one feels more like a Rorschach. Ted K. was a genius in an IQ sense, and that quote on leftists is one of the best summaries of the issue I've seen. I agree with that fully.

The problem with the Unabomber is he was an emotional idiot, in the 40-50 IQ range, but his intellectual IQ and skills in rationalization enabled him to hide that fact from himself.

All of those quotes make some sense, from a perspective which is defensible, albeit not necessarily one I share. Gore isn't insane, or stupid, but I do feel he is a zealot, and suffers significant blind spots because of it.

You know, if you look at any mass movement in history which we would today characterize as evil--say the Third Reich, or Stalinism, or the Cultural Revolution--you will find IQ-smart people in it. IQ is about the manipulation of symbols and patterns. It says nothing about what you don't see because you don't want to. How can anyone say with certainty where their own blind spots are? By definition, you CAN'T see them.

Classic! I can't tell the difference!

More ammo to fight stupid ideas.

I just guessed at most, and ended up at 50%. Since I never read either piece, the only one I knew for sure was #10. I just didn't see Gore complaining about increased taxes...lol

I scored an 83%. Al Gore probably eats a lot of carbs and thinks squats are bad for your knees. So does the Unabomber…and Satan for that matter.

#75 John....impressive...

Mwu,

A few corrections (You’re not on your “A” game this morning, BTW):

The article isn’t “pretty stupid”; it’s silly, at worst, and illuminating at best. (Engage us more deeply, Sir.)

But your “gore is a legal and political scholar of the highest intellect” is both silly and “pretty stupid”.

I also suspect that you don’t believe it either – you seem way too clever.

Where do you find the WOD?

That was the hardest I've laughed in months. Gore: "legal and political scholar of the highest intellect”

is that ODELL from 1/8 Comm? in the Team Peleliu pic. Drop me a line buddy.

-"gonzo"

Al Gore is not a "political scholar of the highest intellect". He's an idiot. Only an idiot looses his own state. If he had won TN he would have been President. Thank God he didn't.

I'm now going out to get into my Hummer, run over a tree and pour some used motor oil down a storm drain. Earth first!!! We can deforest the other planets later.

PS. Bush was right, there are WMDs in Iraq and we found them. But how would liberals know that if they are getting all their news from the MSM.

3 rounds for time:
20 empty Oly-bar overhead lunges
20 knees-to-elbows
20 back extensions
20 bodyweight deadlifts (185#)
TOTAL TIME=26:49 (8:03/9:20/9:27)

Aw, shucks everyone. I'm blushing.

Barry #72:
I think it's dangerous to make assumptions about the motivations of entire groups of people you don't know. I do know some leftists who fit the Unabomber's descriptions (notice how he never attacks leftist positions on issues, just the way they think) but certainly not all of them. And leftists are not the only ones who have gone out of their way to help people/groups/etc. that are considered weak. There are a lot of Republicans doing charity work, donating huge somes of money to non-profits, etc. etc.

I guess the biggest problem with the Unabomber was that he thought technology needed to be stopped in order to free people from what he perceived to be the unnatural demands of technology, so they could live a happier, simpler life close to nature. He was therefore using the so-called leftist principles he despised, thinking he needed to "help" people to accomplish this, that the people who wanted this couldn't get there themselves.

Dan MacD--As far as the Unabomber's hypocrisy, he claimed that his "revolution" against industrialized society would be gradual and non-violent.

Zach #69
I'd be interested in how lack of critical thinking has contributed to Israel defending herself... Ever read Sherman's March to the Sea?

Jessie #18: He had weapons of mass destruction, and he used them. That much is agreed upon.

Nicholas #51: yes, i'm a recovering activist, lol.

Tim #53: Dirt shooters are much much cooler. ;) (And I don't have that bumper sticker anymore, lol.)

#28 TK
The music is Jane's Addiction covering The Grateful Dead's "Ripple" off of an old Greatful Dead tribute album (circa 1990 I think). It was hard to find for a long time. I think t has been re-released on a Perry Farell greatest hits compilation called Rev? Anyway you can get it from i-tunes now. I got 58% on that quiz, pretty funny, but I bet you could make a quiz like that using almost any politician madman pairing. Still funny..

Treelizard #83:

You state:
"Zach #69
I'd be interested in how lack of critical thinking has contributed to Israel defending herself... Ever read Sherman's March to the Sea?"

I'm not sure what Sherman's decimation of the south in 1864-5 has to do with the Israeli-Lebanon conflict (the parallel is especially bad, as Sherman's troops raped most of the civilan population, leading to a generation of "Sherman babies," and literally destroyed much of the south's economic base, such that they still haven't fully recovered). With regard to lack of critical thinking, if we did think critically, we might see that our unilateral support of the Israeli state (and arming them with F-16s, Blackhawks, and our latest military technology...like, say, Iran and Syria do with Hezbollah) has only increased the likelihood of a large scale escalation of the conflict. If we weren't seen as totally complicit with almost every rogue state in the region (Israel being the worst, having violated over 50 UN resolutions, not signing on to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, annexing territory illegally in both 1948 and 1967, and carrying out a conflict against the poorest people on earth (the Palestinians, see the UN Human Rights Watch website)), we might have more leverage in ending a conflict that stands to escalate beyond a regional conflagration.

You also state: "Jessie #18: He had weapons of mass destruction, and he used them. That much is agreed upon."

And who sold them to Saddam? Do you know how we knew the exact amounts of his holdings of mustard gas and nerve agent? (Scott Ritter, head U.N. weapons inspector, used the numbers from shipments of chemical weapons to Iraq in order to verify Iraqi compliance.) Because we sold them to him in 1981-3. (The shipments in 1983 were after he gassed his own people, while Bush Sr. was vice president, and Cheney was Secretary of Defense.) That's why Iran-Contra was declared to be treason. Not because of the support of the Contras, but because aiding Iran constituted aiding an "enemy" of an ally of the U.S. -- Iraq.

Don King #81: I'm glad you've been watching Fox News as well. I prefer C-Span. The story that we "found" WMD in Iraq was reported on the Senate floor by Rick Santorum and later used extensively by Sean Hannity and John Gibson, but was later proved to be false. Santorum also withdrew his comments from the congressional record. Sorry.

Yeah but he's a pervert, Dude

Zach #85

Something about WMD's
http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/elder052506.asp

33%

Made my own workout today.

21-15-9 of:

Handstand pushups
Knees to elbows
Ring dips
L Pullups

9:00

If anyone likes this and gives it a shot, let me know what you think. I wanted an upperbody workout with an impact on my abs.

#84 anoble
The CD was called Deadicated and it's excellent. 1990 sounds about right, god I'm old

Dynamic Warm Up
Snatch:
3x3reps - 40.8k
4x2reps - 45.4k
5x1rep - 50.4k

20 Minutes:
10 Pull-ups (green Woody Band)
20 Jumping Dips
30 Squats
8 Rounds

Single Leg Stand on 24" box, with balance pad - 4x10
Knee-Ups 3x10

today's w.o.d. "Pop quiz" for time:

time = 24.12 seconds
score = 67%

possibly could have scored under 20 seconds, but constant laughter affected slowed me down a bit

Tracy #87

Good link. I think most everyone thought Saddam still had WMD. I did, the Clinton presidency certainly did, as did most of Europe, and other "liberals". The difference, however, is that none of those groups went to war with Iraq.

Plus, even from Bob Woodward's book, "Plan of Attack," (hardly a left wing shill) one can see that WMDs were simply a pretext to show that Saddam didn't want to comply with the international community. Rumsfeld, Perle, Cheney, and Wolfowitz wanted to attack Iraq and reshape the Middle East in the mid-80's, and WMD were a way of beginning that course. Perhaps they were right in choosing to do so, but I simply wish that they had sold the war on what it was really about: restructuring the geo-political balance of power and attempting to plant compliant (and democratic) governments in the Middle East.

Treelizard,

Obviously, any generalization is always going to be wrong in some specifics, including this one. However, the elements of the left which most annoy me seem to match that description pretty well, and that description covers a LOT of the Left. I went to one of the most liberal schools in the country, and got annoyed daily for years. This is not judgment from a distance.

It's the hatred for the US, which is almost always tied to profound historical ignorance, which drives me nuts. I love this country. It's not perfect, but I would challenge anyone to find a nation with greater power that acted with greater restraint.

With respect to Israel, I find it interesting that its' detractors never see fit to comment on the fact that it was CREATED by the UN, and the resulting invasions by every Arab nation surrounding it were, therefore, illegal, and that every landgrab they have done since has been obviously justifiable as military necessity.

Zach #92,

Yeah I think we may have caught a bigger fish than we can fry. Noble to free a nation but the citizens are the ones that need to pony up and are ultimately responsible for change. I blame Saddam for being the whole situation. If he would have allowed the inspectors he would still be in control. It was a chess match and he lost.

Barry #93,

7 Mil Israelis and the population of the middle east is in the 190 Mil range. But Israel is keeping the rest down. Yeah right!

This a cheap shot that tells me a lot about Glassman

My rest day included a trip to the dentist. Now half my face is numb. Would rather have been working out.

Zack #85

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll proudly admit that I am Israeli, with dual citizenship, and many friends and family members in Israel (many of which are refugees now).

Have you actually read General Sherman's Civil War Letter to Atlanta Georgia? Would be more than happy to discuss how it mirrors Israel's situation if you have.

As far as "illegal annexation" of Israel, tell me why the Arabs who were offered their own state (in 1948) in the partition plan refused and declared war on Israel, preferring to "throw the Jews into the sea" over having their own state? You see, there's this rule in the real world, that if you go to war, and you lose, you lose! If you start five wars and lose all five, then you really lose! What was stopping negotiation rather than killing thousands of Jews and creating a generation that builds its sole identity on killing Jews, that is so obsessed with it that there can't be peace?

What you may or may not have gotten from your media sources (which I take it include Noam Chomsky, since you're throwing around the term "rogue state") is that over a thousand (!) unguided missiles have been fired indiscriminately at Israeli citizens, tourists, women, and children. Lobbed right into town, with hopes of killing as many civilians as possible. There's a difference between killing civilians and TARGETTING civilians. And by the way, Israel ranks second in amount of dollars spent to PREVENT civilian casualties, of anywhere in the world. They are preceded only by the United States.

In addition, several Arab countries have made peace with Israel, showing that peaceful coexistence can work.

Do you think that escalation is always a bad thing, even when someone is trying to destroy you? Looking at history, do you think that de-escalation is the way to handle terrorist attacks?

What happened when Israel gave back Gaza, the Sinai and other territorial gains they had made?

These extremists are calling for the end of Israel, to wipe it off the earth, and out of the pages of time (direct quots from Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah Khameini, who insist that their nuclear ambitions are "peaceful." They want Islam to rule mankind. As a friend of mine pointed out, their ambitions are no different than Hitlers, except that they would send their children to die clearing minefields and don't care how many of their own people will die along the way.

If somebody is poor, does that mean that you shouldn't defend yourself against them when they are trying to kill and torture and destroy you?

Do you believe in self-defense in general? My exboyfriend when I lived in England didn't believe in self-defense either. He's dead now. (See http://www.guardian.co.uk/otherlives/story/0,16381,1685416,00.html and http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=16516789%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26page=1%26headline=killed%2dfor%2dthe%2dprice%2dof%2da%2dciggie-name_page.html
and http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=16206417&method=full&siteid=50061&headline=bar-attack-victim-s-precious-gifts-of-life-name_page.html

As far as weapons of mass destruction, Saddam agreed to disarm as part of the turns of ending Gulf 1 and he didn't. Failing to provide proof was in itself an act of war. The shells that were found PROVE that Saddam was hiding these weapons. Since you're such a UN fan, please tell me why you're ignoring resolution 1441, as well as the previous dozen (or however many) resolution that Saddam account for ALL such weapons.

The WMDs that were found, from talks with scientists in Iraq, showed that they could have been cranked up immediately and that's exactly what they planned to do if the sanctions were halted. And they were certainly headed in that direction.

As far as Israel and the UN, you may want to look at the book "The Secret War Against the Jews" by John Loftus.

Barry #93. Agreed that many leftists do share those sentiments, speaking as a recovering leftist. BUT I've met my fair share of Republicans who are close-minded bigots. Humanity, decency, courage, compassion, respect--these things supercede all political opinions, and there are both decent amazing heroic human beings and total and utter jackasses in ALL ends of the political spectrum.

And yeah, I love this country. (Did you go to Evergreen?)

Btw, and I don't know as much about it as I should, and as much as I hate to admit this, it seems that the Jewish Underground fought and beat the British and this is why they withdrew, and created the partition plan to save face. So the U.N. didn't exactly "give" the land to Israel. The U.N. was blackmailed by Mossad, and forced to vote for Israel. They didn't give the land to them out of the goodness of their hearts. Legally you are correct, however.

Treelizard-I, too, spread seed balls.

If you think hard enough you can tell that there are clear differences in the themes and styles of writing between Gore and the Unabomber. Too bad so many of the right-leaning CF'ers seem incapable of thinking hard enough.

Oh, and treelizard, you should pay more attention: there still were never any WMDs found. Sure, fox news reported that there were -- at the same time that every other news organization was reporting about the laughably unreliable report of WMDs that had come out and was proven false.

Coach--very funny! I had a good laugh.

To those whining about the quiz: LIGHTEN UP--it's meant to be funny . . . like those "Bushisms" books . . .

Coach wrote: "The article isn’t “pretty stupid”; it’s silly, at worst, and illuminating at best."

On that continuum, my vote is more toward the silly end, but I'll try to unearth something useful here.

Barry Cooper, #72, has the right idea (as he often does). As with fitness, the interior development of the individual occurs on multiple, mostly independent lines. And like fitness, to a large extent we are only as strong as our weakest link. Kaczynski's weakness was so glaring as to completely counter any value his intellect, however highly developed, might have brought to the table.

Now, if we could come up with Crossfit for the interior development of the individual- that would be something. Sample WOD: Argue both sides of the [insert contentious topic] debate, one point scored for each cogent observation.

Treelizard #97

Your post is really thoughtful, and I'm sorry if I have apparently offended (I'm not using Chomsky, though, for the "rogue state" comment, as I believe commentators on both sides use the term. John Rawls in his "Law of the Peoples" uses the term frequently, and I was actually drawing on that source). I'm also sorry that your friends and relatives have been put in harm's way. I'm also really sorry about your boyfriend, though I'm not quite sure what his stance on pacifism has to do with an attack that was apparently irrational, heinous, and unprovoked. (As a Christian (Quaker, actually), I too have taken a pacifistic stance, but don't know what to do when presented with outright barbarity of that form.)

I wouldn't, of course, defend the actions of Hezbollah, Syria, or the Egyptians, and don't find the illegal escalation of conflict by Hezbollah to be defensible in any way, shape, or form. Equally indefensible, however, is the killing of innocent civilans in Lebanon (more than 400 to date, compared to less than 25 for Israel) through the flying of over 1500 sorties (which are "guided") (!) into Lebanese territory, as well as the maintenance of fourth-world conditions in Gaza and the West Bank.

I also agree that Israel has a right to exist, unlike many of the extremists in the middle east. But you also have to note that there are many Zionists and Christian evangelicals who believe that Israel should be ethnically pure, to the exclusion of other existing ethnic groups. "Pushing" someone "to the sea" is a metaphor -- and a horrible one at that -- used by both sides with equal fervor.

My point wasn't to indicate an intolerance toward Israel, nor to its right to self-defense. I merely want to see some balance in regard to our appreciation of a region which is literally rife with war from Gaza to Karachi. We currently fund three of the worst dictatorships in the region (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait) while allowing Israel to fight proxy conflicts with terrorist organizations who have no legitimate political aspirations. I think calling for careful thinking, as opposed to demonizing Arabs as similar to "Hitler" or failing to identify the source of some of their legitimate frustration (the failed British colonial project, the funding of dictatorships, etc.) is what appears to be needed here. Current approaches, whether they be fully in line with Israeli needs or with those of Arab and Muslim countries, won't work. Some compromise has to be made (but of course some will say that there's "no compromise with terrorists," but that simply recycles the problem).

The point on Saddam and WMD is a complete red herring. Would it have mattered if he had them or not? Would it have mattered if he declared them or not? Plus, 1441 did not include a directive for the use of force (and therefore wasn't an "act of war"). Members of the Security Council would had to have brought forth an additional measure for the use of force (which requires the full vote of the U.N, which is often why nothing gets done there).

For what it's worth, I don't think trying to intellectually bully others is productive, either. Maybe toning down the rhetoric would help everyone involved.

Day of rest "I don't think so for me.I missed yesterdays workout so,instead of 10k I played 2 hours racquet ball,9 holes of golf,edged & mowed my front and back yard,watered and then did last saturdays workout of row & bench as rxd.Now I will rest because I work gravyard tonight!I am so blessed to feel this good at 49 yrs.

Opps, my bad. WMDs that are past their expiration date are not really WMDs.

http://www.mediaresearch.org/press/2006/press20060623.asp

Saying Bush lied over and over still doesn't make it so. If Bush lied so did the CIA, Russians intel, British intel, French intel, Clinton, Kerry, Kennedy, etc.

although I'd prefer fitness oriented topics here...these kinds of topics if ever framed/pitched in a reasonably balanced (i.e. intelligent) manner would produce remarkable input in this forum.....
instead it's generally designed provocation (the kind the emotionally stunted adolescent throws out on the playground when looking for a fight).... which of course anyone who's ever been involved in debate knows produces an environment in which good debate ceases..... except for the provocateur and his croonies.
But..it IS entertaining.

Zach #104

My point re: the articles is that pacifism kills. Something to think about. And I get in this argument with people all the time. You don't stop violence by placating violent people. You stop it by doing something about it.

I've never served so am speaking from the experience of others, my friends who are on the front lines (in this country, and in Israel) point out that in war there are bad choices and worse choices. Of course I would love it if people could defend themselves without causing harm, but that's not very realistic. I just think it's incredibly easy to take the moral high ground when you're not on the front lines making those decisions. And I can guarantee you that if you were using Quaker principles in Israel, there would be a lot more death of civilians than there is now (just like the Dalai Lama is responsible for the death of thousands of civilians, citizens of his own country.)

I certainly wasn't attempting to demonize Arabs when pointing out that the aspirations of some of their leaders are similar to Hitler's. But I stand behind that statement. In addition, the Palestinians ELECTED a terrorist organization as their government. That kind of makes things pretty difficult, to be all nice and pacifistic. I feel like Israel has made MANY concessions which have gotten them nowhere. And again, they do in fact continue to provide humanitarian aid to Arabs even amidst this conflict. I think that says a lot.

I'm not really sure what you're referring to re: intellectual bullying.

-------
Back to the Unabomber thing, in an odd coincidence I just got a copy in the mail of an interview I did for Sacred Fire magazine with a Taoist master, who quoted Jerry Mander's book In the Absence of the Sacred, as saying that society is devolving because of the internet and because we are not interacting with our natural environment but rather with tools of our own creation. I published parts of this interview on my website (which is unfortunately not up right now because it was hacked, by Lebanon supporters, oddly enough). The internet was referred to as disembodied intellect that has no accountability to place, creating a split between mind and body, people and place. I'm not sure I agree with him, but somehow this struck me as very relevant to today's article (er, pop quiz even).

Score 67% how interesting it is that man feels greater than "God".We may as humans bruise our world but only God can destroy it!Al Gore is just a talking head and not a wise one at all.thanks coach for again making us THINK!

10,8,6,4,2
20k kb snatches
ring pullups
ring dips
24:47

Amazing how the rest day discussion seem to diverge all over the place...but I guess that what makes it so interesting...

It seems that some people believe that Israel should have had more restraint in their defensive reaction. So should they have killed 8 and kidnapped 2 of the enemy to make it even. Or shoot rockets indiscriminately. Just because an entity has more fire power/numbers does not make them the "bad guys" in these situations. How stupid a group can be if they don't expect retaliation for continued assault. Don't start the fight if you can't handle the heat.

I guess the points I took from the quiz are:

1. The difference between leftist politicians and wacko serial killers is small.

2. I really need to get a bumper sticker that says "Earth First! We'll strip mine all the other planets later."

3. I don't really need to be that smart. I just need to not let the little things push me over the edge.

4. The value of a degree from Harvard is going way down in my book.

#107 I am in full agreement with your statement regarding the nature of these rest day discussions.

Still a Newbie so had to scale Rest Day article. Got through 7th quote using dictionary, thesaurus, and Google. Failed on 8th; remote got stuck and spotter could no longer toggle between CNN and Fox. Warmed up wrong by reading Time first. I know I can do better!

Got a super giggle from the quiz Coach; thanks. I enjoy the mental gymnastics every 4th day and look forward to your articles.

25% 3 out of 12..Well this really doesn't surprise me. Considering Al and Ted both went to Harvard. I would not be surprised if in fact they knew one another or even took the same classes together. It would be interesting to find out what years they attended Harvard.

Does anyone know?

Proabably same farternity!

i won't be able to work out on saturday so i thought i would get a jump on the make-up rather than leaving it for later.

ran 4.5 miles at a leisurely pace in the AM.

PM WOD (from the archives):

21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, and 3 rep rnds of

back extensions
pullups
pushups

14:49

I don't know the point of the article. Every dictator in the 20th century claimed they were for freedom, and every war ever fought was a defensive war. One can find similarites between the rhetoric of people you think are "evil" and those you think are "good." The rhetoric of Hezbolah combating the Israeli "terrorists" is identical to Israel's fighting the Hezbolah "terrorists." Perhaps the point should be, that to fully understand what someone is trying to say, one needs to know as much as possible about that person.

33%--I guess I'm not as well-read as I thought. I never had much use for Gore--or the Unabomber, obviously--but I really think that some of us need to get over ourselves and stop taking this stuff so seriously.
As for the point of the article--TO CAUSE JUST THE REACTION IT DID, DUDE! It got people commenting--and maybe thinking. A great idea, as far as I'm concerned.

Can't wait to see tomorrow's WOD. At least THAT has real relevance!

De Oppresso Liber

.

33%, sad display. And I consider myself relatively adept at personality differentiation... maybe it was inept?

Oh, I did want to post a cool workout, did this in lieu of 10k, as I hate running 5k, thus absolutley disgusted by 10.

Grappling Circuit

6 Rounds, 8 reps of each of the following 9 exercises per round.

High Pulls, bent over rows, overhead press, good mornings, rt. leg lunge, lft. leg lunge, thrusters, stiff legged deadlifts, curls.

Start with anywhere between a 45lb to a 65lb bar. Add five lbs each round, for time.

I started with 65, ended with 90,

16:52

If you try, let me know what you think.

i thought saddam had wmd, my reasoning..i was convinced USA sold it to him and when powell and cheney told the world, i wasn't gonna argue.

but alas, they all let us down...can't wait until 2008.

good rest day, mediocre attempt at humor. but be aware, i don't laugh at bushisms either...they are depressing.

No rest. Cindy today. Should have rested. 15 rounds completed in 20 minutes. Last time 20 rounds. No bands, no modifications.

Comment #120 DrEric, Maybe their personalities are not that different. Have the confidence you are not inept!

Fran, 45kg Thrusters, 13:43

101# If you got your news from non-leftist news stations you would know that chemical weapons/nerve agents were found. In fact, I read a comment posted somewhere by a soldier who served in Iraq who said "thanks for telling me what I did not see and what my company did not see" when someone like yourself said there were no weapons found. The reason that stories like that do not make the news is because leftist news stations do not want to eat crow and reasonable people realize that we are already in Iraq and need to make sure it is stable before we leave.

Ran 5K
30:30

This one appears done, but I wanted to say I think it's kind of funny how people actually CARE what their score was. It was an obvious attempt at manipulation, and I took it as a foregone conclusion that guessing would be hopeless.

Couple thoughts: it occurred to me some time ago, that there is likely a relation between pedagogy and thinking. Specifically, if you are trained from childhood to believe there is only 1 right answer from a set of 5 possibililties, when confronted with real world situations, there is a tendency to think the same way, when in reality there are often multiple answers that are right in different ways.

Secondly, although I think Gore's sanity is fine, I think one obvious take-away is that people that are batsh&*t insane can sound rational. If you shared many of his presuppositions--which were not all that different from those of many Americans back then--Hitler made sense when he spoke. I was watching a documentary on Dietrich Bonhoeffer last night, and they had footage of some of his speeches (Hitler's), and it was all about "We've had enough, and we arent' going to take it any more. We are a peaceful nation, we don't want trouble, but if they insist, we will defend ourselves vigorously like the men we are."

Not many people know this, but he went to some trouble in all his invasions to create a pretext making it the other nations' fault he invaded. I've said this before, but I really, really, really think anyone interested in politics should read "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." It should absolutely be required reading in all high schools across the nation, or at least parts of it, especially his rise to power, and the lead up to WW2.

Funny stuff re: Crazy/Crazier(which is which?) No time to laugh/whine about it though. Did "JonesCrawl", a gymjones.com workout.

3 rds. for time:
10 135# Deadlifts
25 Box Jumps

7:00

As rx'd: 15:47

Pullups were all dead hang, but I changed up the grips.

oops wrong comment section haha

RE: Phil Sarris 115:

In fact, the Unabomber and Al Gore had the same professor at Harvard within a few years of each other who taught them the same anti-technology world view they both express. Both were impressionable and deeply influenced.

The similarity of their views is much more than a mere coincidence. Their common intellectual root is what makes the Unabomber Manifesto and Earth in The Balance indistinguishable. The Atlantic Monthly published an article several years back called "Harvard and the Making of the Unabomber." It's behind a firewall, so you can't get to it, but it's a very interesting piece of intellectual history.

Wow, who's the professor? I'm curious.

I read that the Unabomber had grown up reading and rereading some Jack London book that defended ecoterrorism, but don't know the details. Also that he'd had an allergic reaction to something as an infant and his isolation (in the hospital) where his parents weren't allowed to hug or hold him really changed his once-happy disposition.

This party (rest day) is long since over but just had to ask.

this it?

http://www.newsmakingnews.com/unabomber%20article.htm

Keep up the great work on your blog. Best wishes WaltDe

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