Niki - good seeing you on the video. You looked strong!! Congrats on the next certification, we're hitting the one in Raleigh NC ext...

Great article and very appropriate for todays debates.

what is the result of this picture?

im sick as a dog but still pushed out Fran in 8 minutes with jumping pullups. The big surprise was getting my first unassisted pullup ever after recovering (i was the fat kid in elementary school). bwt 270 lbs.

#3 Mike

Sand where in places there should never be sand.... Inside your toothpaste tube, for example. Or, dust inside of airtight, waterproof cases. The dust is just like dirty powdered sugar, and even when there isn't a sand storm, there is always a thin layer accumulating no matter what you do to try to combat it.

Talk about stunning juxtaposition:

A picture of hell on earth and video full of angels! Thank you, warriors! Strong work, ladies!

Anyone in the San Antonio Crossfit looking to rent a room? Brand new house near UTSA and *big perk* building crossfit gym in the garage is first order of business after christmas

Email if interested

So today I turned 40. Didn't have time for a workout, so I jumped into the gym for 1 set of max reps of pull ups. I did 50 (5 more than my last PR)!

When I started CrossFit 2 1/2 years ago, that wasn't even in the realm of possibility. Greg, Lauren, and all of you in the community who make this thing what it is - thank you - it's literally changed my life.

Wonder how many I'll get when I turn 50?

Sorry

chrishoover@hotmail.com

Happy Birthday Andy; nice PR!

To all the women in the vid, great job! It's been motivating to know, work with and learn from you all. And even better being married to one of you!

Thanks to Coach, Lauren, Nicole, Eddie, Lisa, and all the HQ crew for another incredible cert. Good times!

Great interview. Thanks.

wow. for a minute there i thought i was looking at the deid. not sure if i prefer that or altus, oklahoma....

This is what happens when you promise to show up to the fight and then don't or leave when things get tough. Either way, you say you will be there for their deepest,darkest hour, only to get cold feet and a yellow belly. Typical of western liberals and the Conservatives who get week knees and listen to them.

Benevolence is lost on the strong when cowardly and self-serving motives are infused.

Words mean "Jack Crap" to collectivists and their brute tactics to enslave the masses under the guise of eutopia. Force and strength are the only true deterents.

Liberty is the natural state of man...all men (and women)deserve it. It is worth fighting for regardless of who needs it and who is trying to take it. The only choices are who do you help first and why. If not, then we will be over powered tomorrow, by those forces we today choose to ignore.

If you will not use your blood and treasure to fight for liberty...it will be taken from you by the tyrant the second you show that you are willing to trade it for your own well-being.

Cowards never win and survival is conditional at best based on their usefulness to the tyrant. Tyrants can't stomach weak bitches either.

Peace from victory.
Victory through strength.
Strength from resolve.
Resolve through character.
Character from courage.
Courage through conviction.
Conviction from belief.
Belief through vision.
Vision from judgement.
Judgement through observation.
Observation from thoughtfulness.
Thoughfulness through caring.
Caring from love.
Love through liberty.
Liberty from peace.

VIGILANCE drives the train.

"Now is not the time to get wobbley" -Margret Thatcher

CCTJOEY

Great shot of a summer Haboob! I think I know CCTJOEY...

Andy- Nice work bro!

CCTJOEY- I'll drop you a line soon.

SteveHB- You said it brother!

"Sand Box"..... Oh the memories, M.O.A.S.

I, too, blame western liberals and the Conservatives who get week knees and listen to them for that big sandstorm. If they only showed some resolve, the sandstorm would never happen.

Good work ladies...love those medicine ball squat clean and jerks...I certainly felt them a bit the next day...all-in-all...a fun weekend, a fun workout.

One more time incase you didn't hear me the first three times.
Awesome work ladies!! Ya'll know you couldn't have done it if Crossfit A&M hadn't been there to cheer you on. :-P

Did a modified version of Nicole since I am still nursing my achilles tendons. Instead of the 400m run, did 35 squats.

Pull-up reps per round (all strict):
1: 7 close grip pulls
2: 6 close grip chins
3: 4 shoulder width pulls
4: 4 shoulder width chins
5: 5 wide grip pulls
6: 5 wide grip chins
7: 4 wide grip one hand chin/one hand pull
8: 6 wide grip switched hands as above
9: 3 close grip pulls
then 35 more squats and done

This on my newly constructed pull-up bar in my garage. Thinking about heading to the hardware store to get some adjustable straps for the bar since I'm currently using some rope and knots. Might try the wire rings idea I saw on the CF boards now that I have the ropes set up.

Sometimes Coach, you are just too funny. Sandinistas compared to Kohmeni? Well gosh, who just got elected president in Nicaragua, in a totally fair election. Hmmmm??

Really liked the Staley and Rippetoe interview. Looking forward to using the clean-high pull-deadlift progression to improve my DL.

Wow. Amazing photo.

CF Ladies,
You are also amazing. Strong, beautiful, and talented. Thank you for all your hard work this past weekend. It is an honor (and alot of fun) to be part of any team you are on.

CCTJOEY-Well said, and all the more valuable since you have first hand experience!

no disrespect....

but these ladies dont need no cheesey sexy music soundtrack....

kinda plays down to them? i dunno.....
does this music make it more fun to watch the video? cuz it obviously doesnt make them seem sexier or prettier, looks like they have that already covered. :)

oh well just me complaining, that music is so distracting....

can anyone tell me how to do ball slam or a good substitute

Cool vid!! I am all for having a group of awesome ladies doing a CF workout when One World hosts the cert in February....

I sure do like Crossfit but I sure don't like the conservative slant here. I'm a liberal but no coward. I consider myself tough in body, mind, and spirit. My experience tells me that the louder someone bangs their chest the more cowardly they are inside. Strength and gentleness need each other.

does anyone want to paraphrase, or soundbite Coach Rip's interview?

i had to go over things more than once during the interview, and i would really like to see his words as a reference for some off-crossfit workouts

btw, It is worth listening to the whole thing, even though it is pretty long

#26 Slink. The classic liberal reponse to free exchange of ideas has been to silence the other side. This is one of the few unbiased and free forums availible. If it galls you so badly to know that there's a "conservative slant" here I would suggest that you just participate in the workouts and not the discussions. I would be willing to bet that the conservatives here aren't logging on to forums with a "liberal slant" and demanding that they change to accomodate them. K-

Good intervju! Nice video!

Did a fast easy wo before leaving on vacation.

40kg 5x5 FrontSq
30kg 5x5 Military Press
60kg 5x5 Deadlift

15sec rest/sets

BW 66kg

Awesome job ladies.... it was a pleasure to workout with you!!!!

#28. I have never found rest day articles objective. To suggest that this is "one of the few unbiased and free forums availible" is just very funny.

#13 Quoting Margret Thatcher, like she had something to say... not funny.

# 28, The articles certainly reflect the perspective of the site's owner, which is entirely his perogative. Your take on them is your own and subjective. The discussion forum is unfiltered, very nearly uncensored, and open to all. That's why I call it unbiased and free.
Margaret Thatcher may represent something negative to you but not to others. Why deliver a putdown to #13 for his perspective if not to stiffle the exchange of ideas? Again, the classic liberal tradition of avoidance by silencing the opposing voice.
You might consider the remedy I suggested to Slink. K-

Correction, comments intended for #32. K-

Hey LADIES! (Insert Beastie Boys soundbite here).
Thanks so much for the awesome workout. It never ceases to amaze me how beautifully strong you all are. It is always a pleasure working with you and I hope to see you all at the next cert!

Rippetoe kicked liberal a**e*. This interview is great!

"Groups which define themselves as enemies, should be treated as enemies".

How ironic that Muslims rioted and attacked a number of embassies as some cartoons have "offended them", yet the country which was most outraged is organizing a conference on the denial of Holocaust. So much for the image of the tolerant Muslim society.

As an addendum, I have nothing against moderate Muslims and also support free speech. That includes discussing denial of Holocaust but such discussion is only meaningful if you also believe that we are still living on a flat Earth.

kman,
sorry if anyone felt I was over the line commenting on M. Thatcher. She still scares me just thinking about her. The forum is pretty free for opinions I agree. But the Rest Day posted articles and stuff are not, in my mind.
Anywho. I wanna end this on a positive note before I hop on a plane. I love Crossfit. Coach is brilliant. I will continue to train my a** off. The stuff he posts on Rest Days could improve, I think!
Good training, all!
God Jul.

Hi all,
Today's work
{Ride (Airdyne) interval work for 20:00} Later, by ~2 hours, {Pull-up (+53#'s)x6; walk 450'; DB press (40#er's)x10; and walk 450'}x6.
Duration 21:40
Bdw. 84 kgs.

slink, or you could bring up your "liberal" ideas? just a thought from the not so conservative.

# 6 - agreed. I can't say enough about how proud I am of our great men and women. What a striking photo - and even that cannot say enough.

About the article:

Really it comes down to whether or not you look at foriegn policy through the eyes of what's best for the whole world, or whats best for america.

The article suggests that a shift from a model of nationalism and Brzezinski's idea of "preoccupation with national supremacy" to an idea of "global perspectives and human issues" is a Marxist idea (obviously a slam).

Foriegn policies not designed to increase American influence in that country are seen as negative.

Should the whole world be a beacon of freedom and liberty like America? I would have to say yes yes yes.

But continuing to push agendas that seek control and power over other nations, just because we feel we are better than an alternative, goes against what the American spirit is supposed to be all about.

A long time ago, Americans hated their rulers - they justified control of America because 1. It was an entirely profitable propostion, and 2. They genuinely believed that their culture was the greatest, and it was a blessing to those who were under their domain.

It took a war to change that perspective, and when independence was won, a pretty damn great nation came to grow out of it.

And did that nation grow strong, and unleash the mother of all payback attacks on it, destroying it once and for all?
No. Duh.

I hate seeing America repeat mistakes of the past, and fear mongering by constantly asserting that an imminent destructive threat by "evildoers" is destined to happen unless we exert our control is growing very weary on me.

With that said, I'm sure I've made a lot of new friends on the message board (hehe). Thanks for letting me post!!
God Bless !

Mattyb

awesome interview...thanks, crossfit!

i'm gonna go and re-read starting strength from cover to cover, now...

For us non-military, non-police, non-emergency workers, non-MMA'ers, or non-athletes, I think some of us ask why punish myself with some of these Crossfit workouts? Well, Crossfit's applicability to other real-world activites became very evident to me yesterday.

I was moving my household across town, and didn't really need help from my buddies until I was ready to move those last 10-15 big, heavy, akward objects. The extreme exertion required for 1-3 minutes while moving each of these items into and out of a truck is very similiar to some of the activites in Crossfit. While my friends were gasping for air, I was ready to "Go again". I had plenty left in the tank at the end of the day while my buddies just wanted to go home and lick their wounds.

BIG THANKS to Coach and the whole Crossfit community!

I just want to say how much I agree with Dan C's comment yesterday about the "Total whiners" of the day before. Actually, worse than the whining was the quitting and refusal to do the workout.

And I'm glad to see the recogniton Coach Rip is getting. His book, Starting Strength, is awesome.

#29 kman -- I simply expressed my opinion that I don't like the slant. I by no means called for less discussion or a clamping down of ideas. I am allowed to express my opinion, aren't I? Or does that somehow imply I don't respect an argument?

I more importantly wanted to address the general equation between strength and warfare. One does not have to fight wars to be strong. This is what I saw in the "Peace through victory" chant that rubbed me wrong.

Alright, skipped out on the last few days -
4x400s with 5x135lbs thrusters
400 times - threadmill
1:15
1:15
1:30
2:00

Ladies! We look soooooo HOT! It was a pleasure working out with such strong beautiful women! There are no words!

Niki LaMonica
CrossFit Albuquerque

Ladies! We look soooooo HOT! It was a pleasure working out with such strong beautiful women! There are no words!

Niki LaMonica
CrossFit Albuquerque

Rest day, didn't we just do this 3 days ago? What's the matter we can't have something different? I'm not doing it!

Crossfit Total

BS: 290 (pr)
Press: 150 (tied pr)
Deadlift: 350 (pr)

790...gonna get 800 next time

any ideas why my squat is so weak compared to deadlift?

No time to read the article, but thanks to all the warriors for everything.

Happy birthday Andy.

Nice video, y'all rock!

Slink-
Gentleness+Islamofascism=The End of the world as we know it. Do you think that Ahmadinajad "loudly banging his chest" that the holocost never happened and that Isreal doesn't have a right to exist means he's cowardly? To me it shows how deadly serious the muslim extremists are, how utterly useless it is to negotiate with them and how forcefully we need to address them.

I remember being in a storm like that in Kuwait back in 92 with nothing but a 2 man shelter half tent. It's a beech...

Now THAT is a workout video.

I'm with James D, everyone is missing the point here. THAT is a workout video...

Coach Rippetoe is a great member of the crossfit community. He has been so influential in my development at a coach...I owe him hommage. His keen understanding of human movement is impressive.
Thanks Rip for all your insight

CrossFit Women.......I'm speechless.

Great video! It was nice to Krista & Denise. Now when other women ask what type of workout I do, I have something to show them. As always, a killer workout.

Wow, great video. You girls are amazing.
Crazy picture of the sandbox. Looks like it gets pretty bad over there. Thanks to all who serve and come back safe.

DJ, I lost your email address. How is PC? Tank

Fun video!!! I'm good on cleans for this year.

Awesome job ladies!!!

We decided to hurt ourselves a little today and did Fight Gone Bad.

Wall Ball 12lb Ball (all we had)
SHDL 65lb
Push Press 75lbs
24" Box Jump
Burpees

3 Rounds
Steve 281
Shawn 276
Brian 271
Phill 370

nearly flew into one of those last summer (well, i was in the back of the uh-60 but it was still an awesome site)

If you get a chance go to Alexa.com (work and family safe) and type www.crossfit.com in the search engine to find traffic rankings. What you'll find over the last year or so is a gradual decline in the number of hits to the main site. Why is this? I think one of the reasons can be attributed to all this military hoo-ray. Now mind you I love Crossfit just as much as the next guy, but I don't think it takes a genius to figure out as the war continues to lose favor...more and more people will be turned off by someone who strongly supports it (and reminds us regularly). I think the tone is essentially turning a lot of people away. Its ashame too since Crossfit is still in its infant stages and without the necessary nurture it will never grow to its full potential.
Just my humble opinion....take it for what its worth.

So much for OPSEC, huh?

I just did some deadlifts today : )

Age: 15 Height : 5'5 Weight: 164

Start: 225
Finish at 415.

ALSO:::

2 mile run, mix with sprints and running with 10 lb dumbells.

30 mins on bike machine.

Then deadlift!

Enjoy the rest guys!

WOW - great video!

Jeez, I didn't want to get involved on one side or the other of the debate (conservative vs. liberal) but for someone to toss out "Margret Thatcher had nothing to say"... I say you need to read your history books. The Iron Lady - the world could use more women like her. Any chance some of the Crossfit girls will run for office some day???

Just a comment about the picture. That is a real sandstorm at Al Asad in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq in the Spring of 2005. I was there during that one and a few more. That is a 5000 foot high wall of sand (more like silt). It looked like Mars when it finally decended on us.
Thanks for all of the great work outs.
S/F

My Rest day:
4 rounds of:
16 Box jumps (Front); 8 to each side
25 push ups
followed by:
4x 7 standing long jumps
followed by:
lateral leaps, 8 each direction over distance of 4, 4.5, and 5 feet

3X10 L pulls

Going out of town, using my rest days then...

#49

Right! Coach is so predictable repeating the rest day over and over, it makes me wanna take my ball and go home!

"Wah"! - Artie Lange

Steve (#63)
Take a look at Google trends http://google.com/trends?q=crossfit.

Alexa works a statistical inference by unknown algorithm. They show nearly all website traffic down, for all websites, for the year. Some sites regularly flatline. Google trends works with a much larger sample space and has more data than others.

By direct traffic count, for two years running we've not had more than one month at a time fall relative to the previous month and each drop has preceeded new records in unique visitors and page views.

BTW -

Before CrossFit:

38YO 215lbs, 36% BF, Bench Press 190, mile 10 min

After CrossFit

40YO 179lbs 18% BF bench Press 225 mile 5:45

with no end in sight!

So all the whiners can ST*U. This Kool-Aid works wonders!

PS - my fellow CrossFit Oakland trainer Nicole O has made even more impressive gains! Lost 50 lbs, DL before 95 lbs, DL now 165, etc., etc.

Alex = Tank
if i could Deadlift 415 when i was 15 (i'm 19 and i weighed like 200 back then), i'd be playing for the Canada National Rugby Team by now!

great job bro

Alex: Holy cow!

Finally I get to do a WOD and post as Rx'd! :)
I will listen to the interview later tonight. Great video!

CCTJOEY- really liked the full circle of Peace from Victory. I'm going to share it with a few of my friends.

#63 Steve-
So, what you are saying is that because Coach supports the military and trains them, that is the reason why the main site has been getting less traffic over the past year? Can you explain better your reasoning?

Kate

Slink...and all...

Peace through victory is not chest beating. In case you failed to grasp the concept...we are at war whether we want to be or not. Peace will come through victory...I am not partial to using military force, but action is a must. Words are failing and prolonging. There will be no compromises that stop this conflict unless we compromise our liberty.

Liberty is the natural state of man, and yes I think it is well worth fighting for. If you feel that is chest beating fine, just sit in the corner and color...we have work to do and it is not always popular.

CCTJOEY- That's two great posts today. Keep up the good work. I agree whole heartedly.

Ryan

M 50 178 69 CFT 695

Did my USMC PFT today.
Run 22:30
DHPU: 20
Crunches: 100
Score 273

Really excited about getting my hands on Rippetoe's Practical Progamming. Fascinating part of the interview. Great follow up to Coach Glassman's short essay on virtuosity. I take it we are all CF novices until we nail form, and progress as we take on risk (greater load, intensity). Is originality the sole domain of the designer (of the WOD), or the way we adapt the CF regimen to our own needs, while maintaining diversity over time & modal domains? I think the object is the latter. Whatever the answer, I thouroughly enjoy the endeavor, and continue to strive for virtuosity.
Coach, thanks for your contribution to the Funtional Fitness Concept for the Marine Corps.
I have been teacing the concept to my Marines for years, and it is exciting and inspiring to have your support.

#75 Kate,
Looking back at my post I can understand how it could have easily been misconstrued. I was merely suggesting that Coach's pro-military stance MAY have some contribution to the decline in visitors flocking to the site. Thats all. In no way (at least it was not my intentions) did I claim the ONLY reason traffic was down was a result of Coach's military support. I think all for all, Coach has done a superb job of fostering a community that highly values fitness and health. Whether his ideologies stand in the way or not I frankly don't care. I come here for top notch fitness. However, I can see where other people might have a problem.

46 (for a couple more weeks!) 5' 8 1/2"/154/610

Will rest tomorrow. WOD adapted from CFSC 11/17 and 11/20

For time:
Row 1000M
DL 21 Body weight (used 135)
Squats 100
HSPU 15
Row 750M
DL 15
Squat 50
HSPU 12
Row 500
DL 9
HSPU 9

28:22

Between CF.com, CF Santa Cruz, and the affiliates there's an infinite opportunity for fun...

Phil #61: FGB 370! Whoa!
Alex #65 DL 415...Nice!

Steve #63: In addition to Tony B #71, in my travels throughout the CF universe I've noticed that some of the folks who were pretty regular posters here are now posting on affiliates blogs and not here. It's a big ol' CF world...

D.

DJ...standing by

WxMan...probably so...Florida?

Steve Liberati... I am not FOR War...only VICTORY over those that would seize on our liberty to intimidate us.

Stephen B... haven't you given us your name in your post??? OPSEC???

Kate...thanks. That was inspired from some down time to think and recharged batteries from the seminar. Life has been busy...sometimes I need to remind myself of why and not just bitch.

Sheepdog...not nearly as much experience as some guys on this board for sure.

I wanted to take my hat off to the LEOs and OGAs that keep liberty alive. Lately, we in the military have gotten a lot of attention, but this is a big fight. Hats off Gents and Ladies! Thank you for keeping my family safe.

On the topic of hits on the site being down, possibly, who cares? As has been pointed out dozens of times, if you know you're not going to like the rest day reading, then do 3 WODs, ignore the site for a day, then repeat. If someone's foolish enough to skip the best fitness website available, which is also FREE, because they don't like Coach's perceived politics, then they're probably not very serious about fitness.
In my mind it fits with the virtuosity piece from two days ago. This isn't about numbers, it's about getting it right from the ground up.

#79 Steve-
Thanks for the clarification. I see your point.

#82 CCTJOEY-
I don't know if you know this or not but the Samurai did not consider any warrior a truly balanced warrior unless he was skilled in both the martial arts and the liberal arts, like peotry, painting, or calligraphy.

Kate

Thanks to all of the stong, beautiful women in the video! I was so inspired by ya'll! See you all very soon...

Coach Rip, I hope to develop that "coach's eye" one day...great info and looking forward to reading your next tome!

What I like about these rest day articles are some of the disconnects between posts. Consider the axiom "It works" when applied to various concepts in the trademarked War on Terror.

Generic Poster - We should use torture cause "It Works" in reference to interrogating prisoners.

Obvious disconnect - Our soldiers should be legally subject to torture if caught on the battlefield as "It Works"

Generic Poster - Bombing civilian areas is morally justified cause "It works" in reference to the Dresden firebombings

Obvious disconnect - Terrorists bombing civilian areas should be morally justified as "It Works".

Generic Poster - We're in a war as they want to kill us.

Obvious disconnect - We have our own Nationally Televised political pundits calling for killing of another country's citizens. Are we declaring war on them because of the actions of our citizenry? Trust me, we've our own morons that'd have no problem killing millions if given the chance (thankfully, we don't give them that chance).

WooHoo!!! My Pendlay CrossFit Bar just got here!!!!

#63, Steve:

You said, "What you'll find over the last year or so is a gradual decline in the number of hits to the main site."

I looked at the site you suggested and wonder where you got your statistic from. Here's what the site actually says:

Reach for crossfit.com:

Reach per million users:

Today 1 wk. Avg. 3 mos. Avg. 3 mos. Change
20 28 33 3% increase

Page Views for crossfit.com:

Page Views per user:

Today 1 wk. Avg. 3 mos. Avg. 3 mos. Change
1.2 4.2 4.9 2% increase

(Sorry, these won't format correctly.)

So what the site actually reflects is an increase relative to previous reach and views.

You may be referring to the 190 rank drop in traffic rank the site had. But jeez, that's when compared to perhaps more than a million other sites, so moving 190 places is barely a nudge.

That's why I tend to think comparing the site's performance to its own previous, as opposed to total rankings, is more relevant.

Not trying to be argumentative, just wanted to offer another interpretation of the stats (you know how statistics are).

For what it's worth, I frequently visit a couple of other fitness sites that abound with liberal views. Just as you'll have to do here, I sort through the political points that I don't agree with and find the information I want.

But even if I don't agree with them, I respect their rights to voice their opinion. Even when someone uses a phrase like "military hoo-ray", which I find rather offensive, I still support your right to say it.

And no, I'm not in the military. I'm 52 years-old, and all ready fought my rather unpopular war in a little southeast asian country some years back. And just like now, that war also "lost favor" and we left a bunch of folks high and dry, and I felt a lot of shame and remorse as a result.

Fighting a war's like fighting in a bar; if you don't go all out you're gonna get your butt kicked. And if you try to leave early you'll have gotten your butt kicked for nothing.

#29 kman - this so called "classic liberal response" can easily be seen on the right, too. Go post something lefty on free republic and see how long you're listened to. It's very, very rare that people on either side of the politcal spectrum read a forum to change their mind on an issue. They tend to fit new ideas into their existing framework.

The rest day articles are always interesting; I don't see what, if anything, it has to do with fitness, which is why I come here. I don't agree with a lot of the articles, you may. I don't see this as a big deal. The right and the left are necessary sides of the same coin. That coin is the march of progress - liberals, who you malign, tend to push new ideas forward. Conservatives, who often make me shake my head, try to maintain the status quo. Between the two, we have reasonable but not excessive progress.

Rip-

Damn Mark, ... 1983 was not a bad year to graduate with a Geology degree! It was '1986' when the price per barrel went from $33 to $13, ... while I was sitting on a wildcat well in the southern Illinois Basin. That's when we all started looking for a different line of work.

Glad you found your path,

-Rog [ISU '83]

I'm going to miss Jeanne Kirkpatrick. Frankly, she wasn't much to look at, but she gave them hell.

It seemed to me that what she was describing was a script for failure, where failure was not a necessary outcome.

The fact of the matter, is that the logic "he may be an SOB, but at least he's OUR SOB", worked. Communist regimes killed more people, destroyed more freedom, and created far more refugees than the governments they replaced. This is not conjecture; this is documented historical fact.

In Iran, the Shah allowed more dissent than the mullahs do now. If he were still in power, we could sit him down and discuss his nuke program. If he were still in power, we may not care. When you got a guy saying "Israel will be gone soon", who is pursuing nukes, well, the more thoughtful among us have to wonder if he is, just perhaps, saying what he means. Hitler did, so there's one historic precedent. Of course, the crimes of Hitler are greatly overstated, what with the Holocaust being a Zionist fabrication and all. Wait, I'm reading the wrong newspaper again. They keep slipping me the same mickeys they got Carter on.

That's all for now. Joey's on it. I thought that was an excellent article that could be taken any number of directions. It does seem clear, though, that "Apartheid" Carter, whatever else he may be, is consistent.

Great video. TEXTBOOK kipping pullups. Outstanding demo of hang clean/jerks. I've shared it with several people.

Rip interview: have not listened to, but WILL buy every book he ever writes. The man is both bright and funny.

Sandbox picture reminds me of a picture I have on my wall from South Dakota in 1934, and what they called a "black blizzard". I got a wild hare six months or so ago to print out a bunch of pictures from the Depression to counteract some whiny something or other I was going through, or thought I was going through. I still have six on the wall, along with a large poster of a panther, and a poster of a Meercat. That distinction was intended as a daily choice. I associate one with Carter and his ilk. Guess which?

#90 Kevin, I'm happy I changed jobs, I guess. However, I just got back from Dallas and the sight of 25 rigs making hole in the Barnett Shale makes me think...

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments about the books and the interview. I appreciate being appreciated.

Rip

Steve Liberati #63,

Alexa doesn't measure hits. All traffic stats at Alexa are accumulated by unknown statistical inference. I know of busy sites, large sites, ones bigger than CF, with Alexa traffic flatline at zero.

We measure traffic - "hits", visits, and much, much more, with uncanny accuracy, and very directly, from the server. I know what browsers people are using, what operating system, where the traffic comes from, and how many people have CF set as their homepage. We know where our traffic comes from geographically, and we even know the monitor resolution settings of our visitors.

We've had no decline on any measurable front.

But, if serving our Country's men and women in uniform cost us all our liberal traffic, killed the interest in seminars, OR adversely affected the bottom line, so be it. I'm not in this for money, popularity, or "hits". There are more than a few people who can vouch for my stubbornness on this count. I've steadily, readily, and proudly ingored most of the business advice I've been offered - especially from liberals.

That being said this business is THRIVING, and for that we are extremely grateful to all who make it possible. The financial supporters to this site have made it possible for us to do free seminars for soldiers and give scholarships where needed. We've never turned anyone away for lack of funds - not in our gym, not at seminars, not for the Journal.

Let me restate/paraphrase something I once offered in the CrossFit Journal. "We are neither in pursuit of money nor popularity but excellence. Markets are unknowable while excellence is obvious to everyone. Chasing money or popularity is a fools gambit. The relentless pursuit of excellence is the sure path, though likely indirect, to business success."

Coach,
Thanks for posting the interview with Coach Rip, it was very insightful for me. Really, it's great how you keep helping to expand our minds. I'm off to buy Starting Strength now.

Kate

Cindy

Last time: 11
This time: 16 (got last squat with one second to spare)

Coach,
Thanks for the clarification. As a business owner myself, I could not agree more with your philosophy. Please see my response to Kate in comment #79.

Hopefully that shall reset my position here as I'm not trying to defend one side or the other. I was just trying to make an observation (which proved to be a faulty one at best....with a misinterpretation of the stats on my part).
And just for the record, I'm not a liberal. Although that is neither here or there.
As a final, thanks for Crossfit. I'm thankful for the free site and most of all proud to be a part of the community.

Cheers,
Steve

Great article, Coach. Lots of money quotes in there. It shows me how the neocons drifted away from conservative ideas. Some of the criticism is downright eerie in light of recent events.

I don't like her realpolitik. Supporting friendly tyrants makes us complicit in tyranny. Tyrants are often short lived and fickle. Would Iran be the problem it is now if, contrary to Ms. Kirkpatrick, we'd given even less support to the Shah instead of more? Should we support secular tyrants against the specter of repressive Islamic theocracy? Lets ask Saddam.

She's right, though: Democracy is hard. Destabilizing a government, hoping it will become a liberal democracy it is like flipping a coin, hoping it will land on its edge.

CCTJOEY - FL or WA before that. Heading up to the 12x2 after the holidays. How's the new addition to your clan?

Maurko,

I get and appreciate your point. There's no denying that supporting friendly tyrants makes us complicit in tyranny.

That being said I also believe that not appreciating the very real and profound differences between authoritarianism and totalitarianism is a fundamental intellectual and moral failing key to ruinous national reputation and foreign policy objectives.

Correlate to this failing is emphasizing democracy over human rights rather than recognizing democratic process as a subset of human rights. (An intellectual goof which in part stems from not understanding that rights and responsibilities belong to individuals and not groups.)

(Amazingly, Maximus, #20 combines both mistakes with sarcasm and proof of sloppy reading in a 26 word post! Hint: the comparison is not between the Sandinistas and Khomeini, Maximus.)

This essay was the germ of a longer and brilliant treatise of the same name: "Dictatorships and Double Standards". It is one of those seminal works like Hayek's "Road to Serfdom" that philosophical opponents have refuted, if only internally, by ignoring.

WxMan... The Man-Cub is doing well...I don't get to see him or the wife much with all the travel. He has a lot more potential than I've got. 9 months old and he will bulldoze anything in his path to get to some mysterious object in another room.

I imagine you are still at the Regt. laying low. Did I hear you might cross over to my side?

It almost happened, but I ended up staying AD. My unpleasantness is resolved and I head over to the other side in Feb. DS will be stateside again next month and I'm sure he'd love to hear from you too.

That is great news...your adventure meter should be pegged. Tell DS to get a hold of me. I am sure I owe him a beer or two.

#99

http://www.reference.com/search?q=Totalitarianism
http://www.reference.com/search?q=authoritarianism

The distinction I see is a matter of degree, and as such, not profound. Am I missing something qualitative?

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