i'm moving to Mesa and setting my house on fire.

Great article, always glad to see Crossfit getting some military recognition, especially from my fellow Airmen.

I actually started doing Crossfit last year while I was TDY at Bolling, wish I would have known there was others in the area doing it on base, would have been nice to get some newbie direction.

Sadly, the sort of evil brainwashing mentioned in the MEMRI dispatch is not unique. It's endemic to the muslim world. They are unique in the level of virulence done in the name of their religious practices.

cindy was the first CF workout i ever did. i puked my guts out after the 3 of us finished. i havent been the same since, haha.

Honestly, is Greg A. human? 16 rounds of Cindy in 10 minutes. Crazy man. Later

Honestly, is Greg A. human? 16 rounds of Cindy in 10 minutes. Crazy man. Later

If the Israelis leave, who then are they going to blame for thier inability to form a competent government and do right by their own people. Hamas is whacking more Palestinians a week than Israel, Hamas' sworn enemy. I have never seen such a culture GIVEN so much only to squander it. They are victims alright, but the oppressors live amongst them and claim to be their protectors. Fatah is only one notch better.

This constant media blitz of victimhood is so staged it should be a Broadway production. The international media just laps it up.

spider chick

too funny. sounds like you are feeling better after last week of linda, murph and mary.

Spider Chick, come on out, you'll love the summers. :)

You Tube crossfit aTm and watch my boy Dutch do a 34 round cindy. I'm in pain just by watching it. I yak every single time i train with Matt and Dutch.

BTW: I'm 3.5 seconds from the world record on my 500M row on the C2. Runnin a 1:17.5. Yay!

Thanks for posting the Mesa picture. It is rare to assemble such a high caliber of people in one place. The staff from crossfit fit right in. Big thanks to Derek and Mesa fire for such an outstanding contribution to the FF's of Az. See you at the next one. Nick Ranney, Drexel Fire, Tucson,Az.

This is the same brain washing of "their" youth that will keep us in Iraq and Afghanistan for at least another 15 years. I have said many times that it will take at least a generation, 10-15 more years, of liberation to show the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan the benefits of freedom and a democratic government.

I will say here also that Turkey is a middle east democracy, which is very rare, so we need to support them in every way we can.

Mini Cindy = Mindy?

Phew, 16 rounds it's poco loco, maing.

I enjoy watching other squat to the D ball, I'm 6'4" and that thing is just so far away when I'm doing high rep squats...

I want to 2nd my buddy Nick, Thanks to Derek, Mesa FD and to the Crossfit Staff. Great people, great Cert!
Leif Lake Salt River FD.

Greg your are amazing! Nicole and Annie, I love it when you guys wear shorts you have AMAZING legs.

I love having the girls in the videos, I think they are such a great inspiration to all the other women that are doing the workouts. I am sure the guys like seeing you too :)

Last but not least I was at the gym today (doing fran), around 7:30pm, you know when all the meat heads are there, and I thought to myself "you suckers, pumping out all those bicep curls and bench pressing 10 sets of decline, incline and flat"

I know I have such a great thing going with crossfit, I started about 7 months ago and have never been so fit. I could not do a pull up when I started now I can whack out 21 -15- and 9 :)

Another airman here! Awesome to see CrossFit at Bolling. I'm going to enjoy watching it spread to other bases as well.

Greg- You're a freak man. Great job.

Aw, kids say the darndest things...

I've been having a problem, for the last couple weeks I've been getting really sick in the middle of the WOD. I've thrown up many times doing crossfit, this is different; I feel really dizzy and nauseous, I can't finish the workout (which is very different from the usual 'throw up in the garbage can and keep going').

Can anyone think of a reason this might be happening all of a sudden? My guess is my diet, since it's midterm week and I've been forced to eat out exclusively.

Thanks guys.

I"m in the top row wearing the white shirt with red letters! the experience to here the CrossFit word from Coaches mouth, have Nicole demo for us and hear from all the other familiar faces was awesome and what this "movement" is all about. Personally, I knew the boys and girls from the Valley would not dissapoint a brother from Tucson. Can't wait until Derek holds a lvl 2 class. Brian Castillo NorthWest Fire District

I think one of the biggest things to notice about that video is that it was made in Saudi Arabia, a country that that we're on relatively calm terms with, I believe. I think that there's a big, oily reason why we're not willing to put more pressure on them, and it goes to show how much economic interests in our government can override issues of world diplomacy and the safety of our own soldiers.

freddy c or anyone

what was the sequence of events in this past crossfit games? just curious.

If anyones knows...
Do the CFSC trainers such as Greg, Nicole, and others do the regular CF workouts alone? Or do they do extra ones? Thanks!

ken C,

Day 1
AM
hopper workout
1000m row
5 rounds
25 pullups
7 push jerks at 135
Afternoon:
run from hell

Day 2
AM
CF total

First day on Crossfit.. WOW!! I have been working out my whole life and have never done anything like this before. I didn't time myself but I did finish. Can't wait for the next post..

6'2
255

Well, it's good to see at least one Air Force Base getting on board with Crossfit. I'm stationed at Los Angeles AFB, and have been trying to talk the base fitness center into becoming more "Crossfit friendly" for about a year and a half now. This article gives me inspiration that it can be done, and now that I'm certified maybe I can volunteer to teach the class and that will get the ball rolling?

#21 Medwig, you might want to go to the doctor and have your blood sugar tested just to be safe. If this is just a one time occurrence, you are probably fine and just have lousy sleep/diet this week. If it keeps up you need to rule some things out. Listen to your body and don't be afraid of the Doc!

I would totally be the puking guy in the video. Greg A. is inhuman!

#9
You said "If Isreal leaves...."(occupied territories),your onto something there,that would be best.

From your point of view they could kill themselves off in peace.
From another point of view we(USA)could get a welcome respite from backing up Isreals land grubbing.

I can't sleep.

Tomorrow around noon I'll find out what aircraft the Navy will have me fly for the next 8 years of my life, and then I'll head to advanced flight school next week. No pressure...

Thanks to Coach, Derek, Mesa Fire and all the crossfit staff that were at the cert. Even though I've been doing crossfit for a few months already, I feel like I've been re-energized and have a whole new appreciation for the concepts surrounding the crossfit protocol. I've changed my diet, began using a new method of coming up with warm ups and have a much greater appreciation for mechanics. Coach you are a genius, and I truly was star struck to have met you (and Nicole). Thanks again. Joel Stevenson, Phoenix Fire

An article for your discussion from V-fair by Christopher Hitchens - whose writing I envy but whose opinions these days, I seem to rarely agree with.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/11/hitchens200711?currentPage=1

Nothing if not well written, although a little oversimplified for mine.

Apologies for the post (my first as it happens) if this article has already been digested by the X-fit faithful.

#30

Land grubbing? Isreal was created for which people group? The Hebrew's or Jews.

The modern state of Israel has its roots in the Land of Israel, a concept central to Judaism for over three thousand years. After World War I, the League of Nations approved the British Mandate for Palestine with the intent of creating a "national home for the Jewish people".[8] In 1947, the United Nations approved the partition of the Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab.[9] The Arab League rejected the plan, but on May 14, 1948, Israel declared its independence. (From Wikipedia but i'll trust the information)

The native inhabitants of the land of Isreal today were the Cainanites and they are extinct, the Jewish people destroyed them thousands of years ago. Then with many conquerings and overthrowings the Jews were exhiled, and then let back and hten exhiled, and let back and enslaved and exhiled, then in 1947 they gained a true nation to themselves as it was more than 2,000 years ago.

The state of Isreal as the Jews held it during the Roman occupation starting 2,140 years ago was much MUCH larger than it is today, the people who were living in the region of Palestine/Isreal in 1947 were Arab's and other cultures who moved into the region after the Jews were exhiled, frankly they have the same right to the land that our Native Americans have to land out in the United States, it was stolen and has been given back...partly, so i agree with CCTJoey, and Isreal should fight for what it has and hold it for all that they are worth.

#13
"10 to 15 more years to show Iraq & Afgh. ... benifits of freedom & democracy".
Is that what this is now a 'democracy crusade'?
Lets take care of the original mission: Kill Al Quaeda and get out.Beware the self perpetuating 'generational war'.

Re. Turkey couldn't agree with you more.Unfortunate that our reps in Congress stuck their thumb in Turkeys eye on the genocide vote a couple days ago.In doing so those politicians show they value domestic political points more than soldiers difficult mission overseas.There's a time and a place for a vote like that,lets not shoot ourself in the foot just now.

nothing to do with the Topic Of The Day, but just wanted to report...

finally figured out how to properly do kipping pullups today. oh yes.

only took 4 months of simplefit/crossfit to transform a jerky no rhythym white-man salmon spawn dance into a nice smooth kip.

What did it? I was walking the dog tonight at around 11PM and was thinking about that video from a few days ago of the two kids doing pullups and walked under a basketball net in the park nearby when a perfect heretofore unnoticed pullup bar supporting the backboard appeared afore me. I think - lets see if I can do this properly. So I did. Amazing. Ripped off 3 sets of 15 (albeit broken) in record time, like 3 times my usual count.

Crossfit, I love you.

Even pukey.

Ok, ok, even you wacky climate change deniers. I love y'all too.

#34
You are ignoring the fact that the earliest Jews to have occupied the land that is now Isreal, the ones who took it from the Canaanites, are the ancestors of the first Muslims. Judaism didn't exist until semetics living amongst the Canaanites revolted against the Canaanite religion because of things like baby sacrifice. Similarly John the Baptist and the first Baptists, some of the early makings of Christianity, was a moral response to corruption in the Jewish Kingdom after reigns of men like King Soloman. Islam was just another religion that sprouted as a response to the corruption of other religions. Modernization was seen as going hand in hand with this corruption thats why puritan Islam rejects westernization. For you to say that people controlling the area of Isreal 2,000 years ago should control it now, is like saying the U.S. should control Africa because early man lived there.
There is a common ancestor.

It's sad to see children robbed of childhood and indoctrinated (brainwashed) into a future guaranteed to cause further misery for all.

Re #5: Seen "Jesus Camp"?

I can only wonder how we'd be training our youth if we were to have foreign armies on U.S. soil, our infrastructure destroyed, and innocents being killed indiscriminately: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/10/16/dad.blackwater/index.html .

It brings to mind what we do teach about the American Revolution, and Patrick Henry's quote: "Give me liberty or give me death!". Not that different if you ask me.

Also, unless one is of the inclination to justify a belief such as expressed by #5, be careful about accepting anything from MEMRI as the complete truth without questioning it. It is not without an agenda:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,773258,00.html

Questions: Where is the line where one becomes what he is fighting against? How close are we or have we crossed it?

Hello Everyone-

Helen 14"53"96

10K 54"54"39

Fran 11"00"59 Last time was 14"06"28 Happy but I
can do better.

Enjoy your day Off Guys

HSDell, you obviously have a problem with recognizing or differentiating between degrees of scale. If not, than all logic is lost on you.

Do you not recognize the difference between policy and aberrant behavior?

I suspect you're unable to see the difference b/w soldiers who kill enemy soldiers (combatants), in defense of life, versus those who target busloads of women in children in defense of ... their religion.

But I like how you justify the brainwashing of kids to be suicide bombers. At least you're honest about your support for evil (or is that called "enlightened" thinking?). It's so mucheasier when you guys identify yourselves from the start.

InfidelSix,

You're painting (me) with a pretty broad brush there, and a bit quick to over-simplify.

I do have to say it's pretty shallow to be so quick to declare someone supports evil.

I guess it's important to get to the bottom line as quickly as possible, using whatever rhetorical club is handy, because "you're either for us or against us" and any dissent, questions, or less than 100% agreement clearly indicates "against us", right?

I'll assume all that B.S. was so you wouldn't have to make an authentic attempt to address the question.

ken c: greetings from my little web! Thank you. I'm feeling a bit better. At least I can do pullups again. It was actually kinda scary when those went away and only came back one at a time.

But, to drop off 4 minutes on a little workout like fran is still massively weird. the 65# thrusters (a bit over half BW) just melted me into a little puddle of swear words.

not sure what to take away from all of the fallout from last week, other than reinforcing my profound respect for uncle rhabdo.

in the words of coach, "people will die for points, but don't let them."

and, i could certainly have been smarter about going to bed earlier and not drinking. a friend is staying with me, and there's been some profound jackassery going on.

either way, thanks!

Hamas are a perfect example of how a democratically elected leadership (which they are) can, in some cases, be a really bad idea. That anyone could look at that situation and still conclude that democracy is the immediate cure for what ails Saudi Arabia or, for that matter, most of the rest of the middle east, is simply stunning.

Hi folks,
I have been happily following crossfit for about three months now,I try to get others on to it, many are put off but whatever the WOD is, they dont understand that they can scale them down (not everyone is hspu compliant)In general Im very enthusiastic about crossfit and its potential.

Overall I feel healthier, stronger but yesterdays 10K upset me a little,
I couldnt complete it.

Shocks Gasps and horror I hear you all say, but I could do these kinds of distances (with difficulty) when I started out doing crossfit.

Maybe it was on of those 'off nights' we seem to so often have, but it has unsettled me a little,

I thought my ability to do these tasks would improve or at least not get worse.

Any thoughts on this are welcome.
Thanks

Dylan #36,

Your so far off base with your information, that at first, it angered me...enough to hurt you violently...like a Palestinian.

Check your facts chief....I don't know what "comic-book-of-history" you got your facts from...or what you and your childhood schoolmates from "Our Lady of Intifada" were taught., but you may wish to do a little more research before making asinine comments. Should you wish to discuss this further hit me on my email for the accurate story…far too much to post on this particular thread.

Re: ystd's "Brutal Work-out": Fireman Tom Corrigan #567 shares valuable insight on the athlete in the video. Spend a moment to read his post if you were curious about the video.

Cheers, Tom, and thanks.

It is not a matter of "liberty", in the islamic extremists situation the quote would be "think and believe just like me or I will give you death" Saying that their motivation is expelling the U.S. or protecting their homes does not acount for the lack of suicide bombings in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in Israel for nearly 30 years after the occupation began, for the targeting of native, non-combatant Shia by jihadi bombers in Iraq, the prominence of British-born Pakistanis in bombings in London, or of North Africans, and especially Moroccans, in the second wave of al-Qaeda attackers. Muslim extremists have attacked more Countries than can be imagined. France, Spain, China, Russia, the Philipines and countless others. They have no claim on protecting their homes when attacking many of these nations. The fight for an ideology and until the entire world believes the same as them, there will continue to be attacks. And when Patrick Henry made his statement, he did not follow it by telling the colonists to blow up innocent men, women and children, or to stike the heads of of the infidels (my favorite Xfit tee) wherever you find them, so do not try to compare the two.

russ

thanks for the info. i had always thought the events were done in one day. may try to run through that cycle sometime soon. i see that the hills were huge but was the run about a 5k?

spider chick

i haven't felt quite right either since lindamurphmary. thought i was gonna crank on fran and came up way short of what i thought i could do. but what the hell...3-2-1 go. hope you got that little plumbing problem fixed before you had company.

same source.

http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA39807

p.s. the word "martyr" is not interchangeable with suicide bomber. an old woman could die of a heart attack while watching her house being bulldozed. she is a "shaheed." shaheed translated roughly means "witness". we translate the word as "martyr" but it is not a one for one translation. any palestinian who dies during the intifada (roughly translated, "rebellion"), however he or she dies, is a shaheed.

p.p.s. as horrible as hamas is (and they are truly awful), they are not al qaeda. in fact, they played a role in battling Fatah al-Islam (al qaeda inspired whack jobs) in the northern lebanese camp of Nahr El Bared last summer. One of the cartoons above is a comic of Nahr El Bared camp after the terrorists were defeated.

Carl, Hamas is another fine example of how a 'party' (gang) buys votes by offering security and benefits to those who would vote them in.

HSDell are you declaring that the US military has a policy of indicriminately killing civilians? Your link is not indicative of your statement.

The difference between 'us' and 'them' is we fight to keep liberty, they fight to take it away and hold people hostage in a 9th century world of Dogma and violence. That is all the justification I need.

In reference to Bingo #44

Fireman Tom Corrigan,
please pass on my personal and professional appologies to your fellow firefighter. I was one of the first to criticize. I ran and jumped the gun, becuase I miss understood the concept of the MH video site, due to my own lack of research. Regardless of form the guy was putting out and the next morning after my comments, I realized I had misunderstood what I was watching.

Simply put your friend is a better man than I. Tell him to keep up the good work for the community.

In retrospect, I thought I was watching an attempt by MH to rip-off CF. However, there is no excuse for coming out with both barrels firing, like I did, on someone just trying to spread the virus. It was shallow and unwarranted. Just an ugly thing to do.

#22, Bin, writes,

"I think one of the biggest things to notice about that video is that it was made in Saudi Arabia, a country that that we're on relatively calm terms with, I believe. I think that there's a big, oily reason why we're not willing to put more pressure on them, and it goes to show how much economic interests in our government can override issues of world diplomacy and the safety of our own soldiers."

If it were up to you, what specific type of additional pressure would you have the US put on Saudi Arabia?

This is my first post I have been a Crossfiter for about a half a year and I wanted to see what you guys think about this workout.

bodyweight on bar
3 rounds

"Bob"

10 Front Squats
20 Back Squats

I think you're right, HSDell. We should give the land of Israel/Palestine back to who controlled it 2,000 years ago.

The legions will be marching within a month.

...What, too soon?

#41, Spider Chick-

As always, I actually laughed out loud at your post. I wish there was some way to shorten the phrase "laugh out loud" here on the web, you know, like an acronym or something. I will be adding "profound jackassery" to my lexicon. Anyway-

I caught up today with Fran, and had a PR by far of 5:27, all weight as RX'ed. I wanted to go sub 5 today- but that goal will have to remain in the distance for now.

Have a great rest day all, and well done.

DSHELL

Just thought that I would add MEMRIs response to your "selective MEMRI" link.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,,778373,00.html

Bingo/#44,

Many thanks for posting the link to Fireman Tom's post.

SC/#1 - riotous. I hope your healing continues, I'm very sorry to hear of the set back.

For those who have not seen it yet, FYI on Bingo:
http://www.skyvisioncenters.com/whatsnew_article.asp?id=195

Humans in Palestine and other places prove just how much can be suffered through while sustaining life - would that more American would quit crying about all our little miseries and find a way to realize every day how good we have it. Never ceases to fascinate me how natural it is to take what we have for granted, and seek more. Strangely, in our nation, it has become a legitimate path to gain more by proclaiming a victim status, and begging or even demanding a remedy from others. One can even claim victimization by talking about 'inequality' as if unequal equals an imposed suffering which is beyond bearing.

From Americans driving conestoga wagons over the Rockies to make their place in the world to 'look at the inequality!' wherein the poorest Americans still live better than most lived throughout history. How did it happen ...

Paul

It seems like some of the arguments being made about Israeli occupation is off base. It is irrelevant who occupied the territory in the past; i.e.- who has a "rightful" claim to it. I also think it is off point to say that the palestinians deseve to be victims. The situation is what it is, the only question I ask, is what would we do if we were the occupied? I don't make excuses for extremists or for barbarism and am frequntly appalled at the actions of the occupied, yet I can't shake the feeling that we might be equally barbaric if we were in our own siutaion of occupation.

saudi arabia is worse than hamas with respect to their ideology. SA is far more responsible for the hatred that infects the hamas ideology than iran or syria, who share a relationship of convenience. hamas is one of the only muslim governments that follow a wahabist strain of sunni islam. there were and are funded by members of the saudi elite. hamas HQ is in Saudi arabia.

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3841

i think we should expect a lot more from SA. and im surprised to see SA getting support on this forum given how many SA citizens are currently in Iraq killing our soldiers.

CCTJoey, #49

That was a damn fine stand up post, kudos for that. ....ya don't see that too often these days, I respect it.

DSHELL

Let us see about that question of yours..."Where is the line where one becomes what he is fighting against? How close are we or have we crossed it?"

Let us define who it is we are fighting against. It was Saddam, is Al Qaeda, and the smattering of insurgent groups in Iraq. (I could add more (Afghanistan and various other places) but don’t want to make this longer than it already is)

Next let us add the "line" for each group (this is of course all in my view and in relation to the current conflict and based on wrongs or crimes committed, but maybe you had a different “line” in mind)

Saddam’s line = gassing over 100,000 Kurds and killing 148 Shi’as in Dujail in 1982. (I know there are more, but let us leave it at this for now)

Well let us see if the Coalition forces have crossed Saddam’s line. I haven’t seen or heard of US forces committing genocide, line not crossed. Yes, innocent civilians have been killed, but Coalition forces do not make it a policy to go out and slaughter innocent civilians. With Saddam, I am going to say that we have not crossed the line.

Al Qaeda's line = Using car bombs and suicide bombers to kill untold multitudes of innocent civilians in Iraq, and multiple other countries. (There is nothing like rolling up to the site of a suicide bomber and witnessing first hand the destruction and loss of life and limb after he detonated himself in market places with hundreds of people around him.) 9/11 I don’t think anything else needs to be said on that. I think that covers Al Qaeda for now.

Coalition forces vs. Al Qaeda’s line. Last time, I checked we don’t make it a policy to kill hundreds of people by suicide bombers, in order to install fear in the populace.

The different insurgent groups, range from Shi'a militias, including the southern, Iran-linked Badr Organization, the Mahdi Army, and the central-Iraq followers of Muqtada al-Sadr. Ba'athists, the armed supporters of Saddam Hussein's former regime, comprised of army and intelligence officers. Nationalists, mostly Sunni Muslims, who fight for Iraqi self-determination.

These group's line = a mix of holding Iraqi Nationals for ransom, killing innocent civilians, based on if one is Shi'a or Sunni, decapitation, rapes, torture, using mechanical devices (drills, saws, etc...) to kill and maim Iraqis. (The three preceding categories are often indistinguishable in practice)

Coalition forces have had a few cases of rape and murder, but those are not the policy. Events in Abu Ghraib were a sad blemish on the Coalition forces. Maybe even crossed the line, but the most important thing that shows we have not become what we are fighting against, is that when the Coalition forces get close to the line or slightly cross it, the Coalition forces make changes in order to fix what wrong they have done. I have seen nothing like that from any of those we are fighting against.

Hope that sheds some light on your question.

On another topic

Langley AFB has a section of their gym set aside for crossfit.

Jaime,

Don't sweat it. The Crossfit boards are littered with uninformed warmongers with very little understanding of the Middle East. Stating that the Jews had Israel 2,000 years ago, and thus concluding from that they should have Israel now suffices for reasoned argument with some of these posters. If we applied the same logic to France and stated that the Celtic people of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall have a right to wage war to take over all of France since it was their ancestral homeland that was "stolen" from them, I would imagine those people would be seen as wackos. Yet, Israel gets a bye because it is seen as ordained by the Bible. In that case, people who push policies that lead to much death and destruction based primarily on an interpretation of what they deem as "revealed text" are rightfully called fundamentalists and little to no better than the Taliban.

This is partially what I wrote earlier in yesterday's comment section before I switched over to today's section-

...Tim Hamilton, gaucoin, STOUT, Maximus, Johan Nederhof- excellent comments.

Adam Price-
Very well spoken, thank you.
As Blades said in a few comments later, I admire your courage. You and your family are in my thoughts.

"Fireman Tom" Corrigan-
Thank you for sharing. ...

and now I want to add in about Joey's comments today.
It's true Joey, what Tim H and david said, it takes a lot of humility to admit when you are wrong and you have wronged another individual. It is what helps define a man and a virtue that more should seek.

Kate

Can someone from the Calgary crew post something about the "OPT Challenge" this weekend? Is it modeled after XFit Games? Thanks in advance.

A rest day! Awsome, I can get to work one continuing to build my WOD playland in my basement.

Todays project: build kipping bars into the ceiling joists -- sure wish I had 9 foot ceilings instead of 7 :-p

ken- only 260 days left til the next games :-)

#55

MikeG

First off, you are right. The situation is there and we should not be bickering about who deserves what, but how to resolve the situation. That being said, I totally disagree with your statement that we might be just as barbaric. First off, the muslim extremists are commiting barbarous acts all over the globe, not just where they are occupied. Every front they are involved in, they use the same gruesome tactics. So saying they are fighting this way out of a sense of nationalism is a fallacy. Second, we are raised in a society that puts a certain value on human life, and views acts like suicide bombings, decapitation, and murdering innocents as unthinkable. We cannot imagine how someone could do such a thing. And a person is not capable of doing what they do not understand.

The new CF gym at Bolling is great. I am a new CF'er since June and it is great to have a dedicated gym for CF. I am told it still has a little work to be done on it, but it is great. I go by myself at 0830 and it is great because I can get my WOD done without people looking at me like I'm crazy. It also has bumper weights to throw around, can't do that at my normal gym.

The situation in Israel is very simple, and only ignorant Western, leftist apologetics permit the forging of a lasting peace, and a greatly improved living situation for the Palestinians.

The United Nations, following the Holocaust (which is one of the best documented crimes in human history), created out of what amounted to a piece of the British Empire (taken in WW1 from the Ottoman Empire) a nation intended as a homeland for Jews. It did not include much of Jerusalam, did not include the West Bank, Gaza, the Sinai, or the Golan Heights.

Predictably--but contrary to the specific intent of the then best equivalent of a supervisory authority, the UN (Britain having washed her hands of the matter)--all of the surrounding Arab nations declared war immediately. They no doubt thought victory was a shoo-in, since Israel had poorly defensible frontiers to begin with, and was populated by an untrained, largely unarmed, unorganized mass of Jews (inferior in their own right, as it clearly taught in the Koran).

They lost. During this conflict for survival, many people who otherwise would have been eligible to live in the land--who were intended by the UN to live in that land--left. Many left of their own accord, and some no doubt were forced out by the fighting.

Be that as it may, the reluctance of the Israelis to allow back in people sworn to kill them, and with a long history of in fact doing so, was quite understandable.

However, this defeat (Naqba, "Disaster") was so galling to the Arabs that they deliberately chose not to resettle the refugees, so that they could in effect declare the conflict indecisive, and use the refugees as in effect a way by which to keep a foot in the door. This way they could continue to point to the need to get these people back into "Palestine", knowing full well that the refugees had no intent of living peacefully with the Jewish Israelis.

Thus, aggressive wars waged repeatedly against the Israelis could be rationalized as in defense of people they themselves treated like dirt, and refused to rescue from their condition. That is all the Palestinians do, is provide political cover for the continuing efforts of many Arab nations to reverse the outcome of the war in 1948 (if there is a God, he clearly was on the side of the Jews), by reoccupying what is now a Jewish land, and reclaiming it with a green flag atop the whole of Jerusalam.

And every time they attack, are defeated, and the Israelis take land to make the next attack easier to defend, the Arabs can invoke the name of the Palestinian "tragedy" to claim their war was just to rescue them, and the following "land grab" a war of aggressive conquest by the Jews.

And Western leftists eat this up. As we become progressively wealthier, and more peaceful, their available choices of victims for whom they can plausibly crusade gets smaller and smaller. This is why the hysteria and anger gets greater and larger. Leftists need victims the way cars need gas. It's what they run on.

But the bottom line--regardless of one's reconstruction of history--is that the Palestinians are never going to get the "right to return" to their homelands, any more than the American Indians are going to get their land back.

It won't happen, and in point of fact the Palestinians have not even made an effort to make that an option that could be contemplated, since every time Israel makes a concession in order to secure peace, they just use that as a closer launching platform for continuing attacks of hatred, which are without military value.

If Palestinians were smart--and even Michael Moore pointed this out--they would use non-violent resistance. That could work. Frankly, I think it would work. But their level of moral and emotional development is so retarded that they continue to resist like little children, and choose techniques that make them feel temporarily better, but which push them further and further from the goal of peace.

In fact, one could easily conclude that their real goal is nothing other self indulgence through violence, and the continued abuse of the Palestinian people by those supposed to be caring for them. The rule of the Fatah and Hamas mafias.

Peace is possible, but it requires telling the truth, starting with the obvious fact that the Palestinians have been betrayed, first and foremost, by their fellow Arabs. The second truth is that they are never going back to their ancestral homelands. Never. They have done nothing to deserve it, and absolutely everything conceivable to close that door fully.

The only thing preventing the next step is continuing Arab faith in Western Leftists, who keep supporting them no matter what they do. If they lose that support, at some point they will need to call it a day.

One other factor, actually, plays in as well. Hatred of the Jews is a rallying cry for unifying tribes of people who otherwise have been at each others throats for all of history, even though they are theoretically all Muslims brothers now.

The complement to telling the truth about Israel, is telling the truth about the Arab nations, which is that they are narrow minded autocracies that are intrinsically culturally and economically uncreative. This can change, and this needs to change. I think success in Iraq, to show what improvements in life are possible, will be an excellent starting point for this. This, of course, is why we opposed so viciously by agents of the old order.

What to do about Saudi Arabia? I don't know. Maybe Bush has something along the lines of "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer" in mind. Don't know. Hard to say what to do. If I were in charge, though, I'd have a lot of paid guys out there telling stories at racetracks, and around the argilehs.

Hitch's Vanity Fair feature linked to above is, I believe, worth your attention. It fills me with profound sadness and pride and reinforces my respect for our nation's warriors. Those of you who serve -- thank you -- there really are no fitting words but this humble expression of gratitude will have to do.

Last time I checked, there was no "Let's All Get Together and Decide What to Think About" annual convention for Muslims. Muslims are spread out over every inhabited continent, representing massive cultural differences. It's really, really silly to make a general statement about Muslim's since the word "Muslim" refers to a massive range of possible viewpoints.

So those Muslims motivated to acts of terror in the Phillipines are not the same as the Chechens or the 9/11 hijackers. (In fact, most seem to agree that the Phillipine terrorists are pretty much just an organized crime network now.) The idea that you can attack Iraq and thus get rid of Muslim terrorists is strange, if you look at it in this light.

spider chick #1-
I'm going to come visit you when you move to mesa and set your house on fire. :-) Also, sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. I'm with ya, and need to cut out these late nights with little sleep. I've always been so disciplined, i.e.: get 8 hours of sleep (even going to bed at 9:30pm on weekends so I can get up early and workout), don't eat out, don't drink more then 1-2x per month etc. Then I realized I'm not having any fun, if I want to go out and have a drink with friends I shouldn't have to worry about it, however I think now I've gone a bit overboard and this is turning into a Thursday, Friday, Sat out until 2am thing. I need to calm down, but I've never been good at moderation...I'm all out one way or another. gotta work on that. Anyway, sorry for the ramble, just wanted to say I hear ya. Those late nights and drinking catch up with ya. Hopefully you are taking a rest day today.

Intent-
thanks for the info yesterday re: OPT challenge. Sounds like fun, really hope you guys post some video and good luck!

Greg is a beast. holy shizzle that was awesome!

Ken C-
good job on Fran yesterday! She's one of those workouts you know will be over quickly but it still takes a lot of mental preperation to get started on her.

#68

Barry, thanks for that write up there. I am a Christian myself so maybe that shows why i believe what i believe. I would have written something similar to the post you had, had i been up a little bit earlier, but i just woke myself up. Frankly it is amazing that some apologetics continue to back up the Muslim extremists in their war on the Jews and in the goal of exterminating them from the face of the planet....last time i looked back on history that caused a world war, this time it seems ont he US cares.

#43
lol. do you get your historical fact from wikipedia? or better yet, the bible?
sure I summarized centuries of history in a few sentences but please,PLEASE show me where its false.

I want to be like Greg. Is there a cf gym in Las Vegas, NV. Been doing this for about 2 years now, love it, would like to see more people out here doing it...cf that is.

#1
spider chick - hands down, best comment ever.

let me know if it works, and ill do the same.

The first sentence should substitute "prohibit" for permit.

I will add, that as an "apsychotherapist" I don't believe Freud existed.

Oh, yeah, the Leftist boogeymen. Convenient.

Also, comparing President Bush to Michael Corleone (through the wisdom of Vito), is just wrong. Almost offensive.

Otherwise, Barry's assessment of the recent history of Israel and Palestine is right on according to my understanding, and the texts I have read and studied. Pretty much agree that the Palestinian's Muslim brothers are the ones selling them out. Agree that much of the Muslim world acts like a child wanting attention. A very dangerous child.

What do you know, I'm a pro-Israel Leftist. But don't let that stop you from finding people who disagree with you to blame for all of the worlds problems...

#73 Dylan, let's take this from a point by point.

"You are ignoring the fact that the earliest Jews to have occupied the land that is now Isreal, the ones who took it from the Canaanites, are the ancestors of the first Muslims. Judaism didn't exist until semetics living amongst the Canaanites revolted against the Canaanite religion because of things like baby sacrifice. Similarly John the Baptist and the first Baptists, some of the early makings of Christianity, was a moral response to corruption in the Jewish Kingdom after reigns of men like King Soloman. Islam was just another religion that sprouted as a response to the corruption of other religions. Modernization was seen as going hand in hand with this corruption thats why puritan Islam rejects westernization. For you to say that people controlling the area of Isreal 2,000 years ago should control it now, is like saying the U.S. should control Africa because early man lived there.
There is a common ancestor."

-The Jewish people were birthed from Abraham who was a Mesopotamian from Ur. He came into the Dead Sea area and then the Jewish people were enslaved by the Egyptians many thousands of years ago.
(i.e. they are not of the same origin as the Cannanites)
-The Jewish peoples then DESTROYED the Cannanites living in Cannan 3,000+ years ago. Again, they could not be of the same blood nor origin in culture.
-The monothiestic religion of Judaism is the first ever recorced in history and archeology, far far earlier than when you claim they must have sprouted from moral objections of the Baal worshipping Cannanites. If they were mearly an offshoot of Baal worshipers then it would have looked more like the Protestant/Catholic split and they would have....big surprise here, CONTINUED TO WORSHIP BAAL.
-Christianity, where's THAT one come from, oh yeah. Christian's came from the Apostles of Christ, because those baptised by John the Baptist were still Jews, Christ was a Jew, and the Apostles were Jews, they were teaching a reformed Judaism, Christ said he came not to take one letter of the law away. There was no "Moral Response" to people like King Solomon. Why? Maybe because Solomon had been dead for a few hundred years. King Harod was around, and he was not a good guy, but the Jews were content with their belief, and so was John the Baptist, though he was not happy with the "pit of vipers" Pharisees. Christianity was then named from a remark about these "Christ followers".
-Islam was created in the Arabian desert by a nomadic Mohammed, NOT by some moral objection or an ethical stance, YES that was a small portion of what he said to GET PEOPLE TO FOLLOW HIM, but not how he or why he created Islam.

-Finally, you are interesting here: "#43
lol. do you get your historical fact from wikipedia? or better yet, the bible?
sure I summarized centuries of history in a few sentences but please,PLEASE show me where its false."

And yet in your first post you use information from the Historical Record that has been put into the record by what means? The Bible. Yep that's right, you can't make fun of either the Bible or Wikipedia or you name it, UNTIL YOU NEVER EVER USE THEM EVER AGAIN FOR ANY RESEARCH....EVER. Seems you are above most sources of information anyway.

m/55/200

1st timed fran 5:38

thrusters 21-15-9 #95
dead hang pull ups 21-15-9

all sets unbroken

Let me start off by saying that I am Jewish, so I guess my view of the issue is a little biased. That being said, I feel that Barry is deffinatly correct in everything that he said. I feel, however, that the conflict has evolved beyond Israel and Palestine or the Arabs or whoever. It has evolved to the point that the Arab extremeists are no longer simply trying to get rid of Israel. At this piont, the extremeists would like to see the US and all of Christianity and the western civilization go up in flames. Israel, in the words of a friend of mine serving in Gaza, "is a western country stuck in the middle east". I agree with this after having been there.

Israel really is not all that different than the US or Britain. Naturally there are some fundamental differences, but for the most part there are quite a few similarities. With Israel being our greatest ally in the middle east, nothing that is done to appease the Palestinians will stop the conflict. Israel, to the extremeists, has become nothing more than a more convenient way to strike a blow to the West.

In all honesty, I would not be a bit surprised if giving the Palestinians a state did nothing to curb the conflict in the middle east.

Spider Chick #1,

Yeah I feel you on the whole pendulum swing between discipline and good times. News Flash: I'm not good at moderation.

Rest days are no fun, but here are my two cents.

Lately I've been hearing a lot of talk from the Arab states, and even some more hardline Islamist parties (Hizbollah being the forerunner) that if Israel will return to the pre-67 borders they'd be happy. Frankly, I don't buy it. Those are the same borders that existed when the confederation of Arab states attacked Israel in order to wipe it off the face of the earth in what became the six-day war.
Unfortunately, I can see that just saying this is not constructive. Instead of offering a solution I am instead predicting that when Israel does finally concede the rest of its territorial gains from '67, not much will change. the appeasement of Arab states will only be temporary. And this is because anti-zionism is such an easy rallying cry for socio-economically disinherited demographics within Arab society. Social exclusion hardens religious affiliation, and a common enemy is an easy way to unite populations behind charismatic leaders. Therefore, as depressing as it is to say, as long as a large portion of Arab population is socio-economically disgruntled AND Israel exists within Arabia, conflict will not cease.

Sully

Rest Day?

I am confused.

How many sets of rest should I do? Is this for time?

Do sets have to be strict, such as lying on the bed, or can I put my feet up on the couch?

Any explanations would be most welcome.

Finally, whilst Greg may seem tough to most of you I can guarantee that if you gave him a paper cut, and then poured lemon juice over it, he'd wince....a bit!

#79,

Being Jewish does not imply being a Zionist, as can be witnessed by the Western critics of Israel, most of whom are Jewish.

Having said that, I got a laugh out of your statement:

>>Israel, in the words of a friend of mine serving in Gaza, "is a western country stuck in the middle east". I agree with this after having been there. Israel really is not all that different than the US or Britain. <<

Utter nonsense. Israel is a modern nation-state based on the idea of ethnic chauvinism, where other ethnicities are not welcome. The US and Britain are not.

Israel discriminates against its own Arab citizens by restricting their rights significantly in comparison to its Jewish citizens. This does not even include the Palestians who live in the West Bank and Gaza, who have been under the sovereign rule of Israel for 40 years (since 1967), but who are not even considered second-class citizens. For all effective purposes, they are stateless without any rights, even though Israel exercises sovereignty over them. The US and Britain do not treat their citizens nor their subjects (i.e. Puerto Rico, Guam, etc.) like this in any way. That's why President Carter, Nelson Mandela, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu compare Israel's policy towards the Palestinians as a form of Apartheid.

Since you are a Jewish American, you have by the Right of Return Law in Israel, the right to Israeli citizenship that bestows upon Jews far more rights than the other inhabitants of Israel/Palestine.

What's wrong with Israel is pretty simple to state. Any one of our posters living in the US (over 7,000 miles away), who are not Jewish or Palestinian, can choose to convert to Judaism, and voila, can go to Israel, get citizenship, and buy a house in Haifa or Jerusalem, and bring family over. An Israeli Arab living in Haifa, whose family has lived in Haifa for the last few hundred years, does NOT have the right to bring a cousin or aunt from Rahmallah (about 40 miles away) to live with them in Haifa, even though they ARE an Israeli citizen. This doesn't go on in the US and Britain, I'm sorry to notify you.

Say what you will about the lunacy of religious extremists in the Arab world, supporting an Apartheid democracy (a democracy only for Jews) in Israel is not in the long-run interest of the United States. Supporting an exclusive ethnic state whose existence is maintained by pushing the natives out does not jive with my idea of what America stands for. This doesn't mean we have to support the Palestinians or other Arabs. It means we should probably leave all the Middle East to sort out its own problems.

LT Amundson is my hero, and the wind beneath my wings.

#70 Juan

While there may not be a "Lets all get together and decide what to think about" convention, it does not appear that there is a need for one. They (islamic extremists) are all using the same tactics. Killing innocent people, i.e. the taking over of a school and slaughter of its children. This is because they put no, zero value on the lives of non-muslims. This is taught to them from childhood, it is in the Koran, so there is not a need for a "Get together" because in that sense they are all on the same page. There is NEVER, NEVER any excuse for taking an innocent life.

to coach and the exceptional trainers that were present at the mesa cert.,thank you for what was the most informative and well put together seminar that i have ever attended. I learned more in one weekend at the cert, than Ive learned in almost 30 years of working out. Coach
thank you for having the vision and knowlege to change the false paradigm of what is the accepted norm. Crossfit has definitly changed the way i approach many aspects of my life. also i would like to thank every person who attended the mesa cert. as firefighters our life absolutely depends on our fitness level, for us its not about looking good, or bragging rites, its about survival. please spread the word to your respective fire depts on how effective crossfit is. again coach, staff, and everybody who attended, a big thanks and keep it up.
Scott Pauly
Phoenix Fire Department Station 13

Enjoying the rest day?
Was really bored this morning.
WU: Ball Slams 5, Pushups 10, KB Swings 15 (1.5pood) 2 rounds = 2:24
Pull ups 5, Ball Slams 10, DB Push press 15 (30) = 6:35
Recovery Row: 30 min, 7612m

As a bleeding heart uber liberal, I vote we just cut our losses with Iraq, head over to Afghanistan and/or Pakistan and take out Osama, and bring our men and women home. Easier said than done, I realize. I've already been to 4 military related funerals since 2004, I don't think I can handle going to another. Then again, what do I know

How about this for solving our Mid East quandry:

Cut off ALL aid to Isreal tommorow.Then send over Richard Holbrooke with 100 % carte blanche.At the same time deploying multiple battleships and aircraft carriers off the coast of Isreal so nobody gets any funny ideas.I guarantee there will be a comprehensive peace setlement within 2 years.
Insant mute on the anti-US hate volume in the region.More importantly it totally undercuts Iran and their proxies,and their reasons for wanting the 'bomb'.If they don't want to give it then we may want to level those sites.
Bring all the troops home.Invest money saved from current 'no end in sight' operations & avoidance of 'WW3' into domestic renewable energy and say goodbye to that part of the world for a long long time.

Guess I'll have to do my WOD's in hiding now as AIPAC will proably put out a hit on me.All for the greater good.

#83 Glass
Like any religious text the Koran only has the significance you give it. It is only an extremist MINORITY that choose to interpret the Koran in a manor that promotes killing, and the devaluing the lives of non-believers.

#85 ebrandom-
I have been to 5 memorials this year alone, with the 6th coming up tomorrow. It can get quite depressing and at times you can feel overwhelmed, but then you remember their lives and how they enriched yours, even for a short time. I didn't know some of the soldiers as well as others, but I do know for a fact that, in some way, I and my life has been changed for ever. For that I am grateful.
Not meaning for that to sound as preachy, just wanted to let you know that someone hears your grief.

Kate

Did yesterdays wod today,
FRAN 3 RDS IN 18:20

Terrorism is wrong, but I do think Palestinians have a valid reason to be mad at Israel and the video brings up a good point, though it is somewhat upsetting in that they refer to children as martyrs.

Israel does shoot at children who throw rocks at a government which is in almost every other state's view an illegal occupier. Shooting at unarmed children is wrong and most of us have seen it on television. The IDF kills innocents, too, but it calls them collateral damage.

#36 you state the following:

#34
You are ignoring the fact that the earliest Jews to have occupied the land that is now Isreal, the ones who took it from the Canaanites, are the ancestors of the first Muslims. Judaism didn't exist until semetics living amongst the Canaanites revolted against the Canaanite religion because of things like baby sacrifice. Similarly John the Baptist and the first Baptists, some of the early makings of Christianity, was a moral response to corruption in the Jewish Kingdom after reigns of men like King Soloman. Islam was just another religion that sprouted as a response to the corruption of other religions. Modernization was seen as going hand in hand with this corruption thats why puritan Islam rejects westernization. For you to say that people controlling the area of Isreal 2,000 years ago should control it now, is like saying the U.S. should control Africa because early man lived there. There is a common ancestor.

Then by your own argument, who ever resides there now should control it. Which is the Jews.

Thanks for the great video today! made me realize I need to watch my ROM on my pullups and make sure I am getting all the way down!

good day for rest today. this week was tough

My wife is a pretty good athlete. I wonder if I could get Greg to mate with her to make a superhuman athlete. Hmmmm.............

Kate, We hope you're feeling better

OPENING SOON:

CrossFit Kids--Gaza Strip

Imagine. It seems like television is as much of a threat to the well-being of children in the Middle East as it is here in America. I say we go over there and let Pukie sort things out.

PS--Mini Cindy was super beast. Great work!

freddy c

crossfit games would be fun i think. might try to run through the sequence and see where i would have finished. your numbers look pretty darn good from the last one. 260 days to work on hand stand push ups and snatches. never know what will come out of the hopper. how far was the run?

#93
haha thats a good point. I was more addressing that saying Isreal should be a Jewish state because of ancient history is illogical. to me none of it is about who disserves the land but rather what would end the conflict.

I have a hard time with people being pro-Palestinian. Such indoctrination on these college campuses. Anways, I will share the following.

I am no scholar. I can only tell you what I know from my own experience.

I am currently in a Muslim country. I watch video from Mecca all the time. They translate it to many languages on the satellite TV in this region. I doubt many of you have ever watched, listened, or read what is prayed at their Mecca. While some will disagree with me, let’s agree on the importance of Mecca. As defined on, wikipedia:

Mecca: The city is revered by Muslims for containing the holiest site of Islam, the Masjid al-Haram. A pilgrimage to Mecca during the week of the Hajj is one of the Pillars of Islam, a sacred duty that is required of all able-bodied Muslims who can afford to go, at least once in their lifetime. People of other faiths are forbidden from entering the city.

So to understand the people who wish to destroy me I watch, about once a day. This site, this holy site, has had the following prayers. I am summarizing...

Allah, the merciful, please protects us from the tyrants, the kuffars (non believers), the people of the book (Christians New Testament), and the people of the Torah. Give us your protection and don't protect them. Do not protect them but make us strong and help us defeat them. Allah they can’t believe in three Gods (reference Christian concept of the trinity) etc etc etc They will perish with your help…. Etc etc

This is the general prayer message at their most sacred site. My perspective is this... Catholic Church has its problems. But I never sat through a Mass where we talked bad about Jews and Muslims. I never prayed for the misfortune of anyone. Maybe other Catholics could speak up if they remember anyone offering prayer for the misfortune of anyone. I never seen or heard such a thing. (I don't need a history lesson on the Crusades and why Europe doesn't speak muslim.)

I find most Americans totally oblivious to the world wide threat of Islam. They base there opinions on the 2% they meet on college campus. My definition of the 2% is the very wealthy and privileged muslims that can travel and be afforded a European or American education. This 2% is the equivalent to our Hollywood Elites or Trust Fund kids. Yes they are muslim but there views are not mainstream. I would go even further and say they are like holiday Catholics if anything. You know the Catholics that show up for Easter and Christmas. Absent the rest of the year.

I often here the remark, "Christians live in the Middle East, we accept them." Yes, I have seen some Christians around these parts. :-) Yes, the muslims here seem to accept them, this is true. But let me characterize how they accept them so you understand. If that is offensive, let me put it into perspective. I would characterize it this way. They accept Christians like a person from LA, CA accepts their illegal alien landscaper. Christians are born into that and never have any opportunity. Seems muslims here are proud of their charity to Christians here. Sort of like tipping 2 bucks to a day worker for sweating his ass off all day. This is an over simplification but are very similar to two things I found equally offensive.

My ankle is taking my weight without discomfort now so I might try a short run today to test it out. I'm hoping for an ankle friendly wod tomorrow. I might just make up Fran otherwise.

Today 100 pull-ups on rings - 7:30 followed by L-sits. I'm up to 30s on the L-sits and 1:30 on supports.

As far as the Israeli-Palestinian situation. If the other people in the area are like Iraqis, they are driven primarily by emotion and can't be reasoned with. There will never be peace there because everybody has a grudge that they won't let go, both on a religious and personal level. Both groups were promised the lands by their holy books. Everybody has a brother or uncle or grandfather who was killed or maimed. They don't want peace, they want revenge. The only two problems are 1) they have oil and 2) they (Iran) will have nukes soon. The situation just sucks all around. jaime #88 has the best proposal I've seen yet. It's worth a try.

#69 Barry: While I understand the military/strategic purposes for it, would you say that invading and permanently occupying another country's sovereign territory is justified simply to make your borders "easier to defend"? Especially if in the process you force a whole lot of people, whom you treat as second-class citizens, to live under your rule?

In general, I agree that Hamas has made things a lot worse. But the IDF aren't exactly angels either. For the sake of the innocent people on both sides of the conflict, I hope some leaders in their right minds rise to power in the area, and soon.

#101 you wrote:

#69 Barry: While I understand the military/strategic purposes for it, would you say that invading and permanently occupying another country's sovereign territory is justified simply to make your borders "easier to defend"? Especially if in the process you force a whole lot of people, whom you treat as second-class citizens, to live under your rule?

Yes! Germany is an example. Of course the only people being treated as second class citizens were East Germans by Russians. Hey I guess that is how terrorists and iranians treat Iraqis.

David,

Joey's post reflects something much more rare than humility; it reflects honesty. Honesty requires more than just not lying. Honesty requires speaking when silence would allow others and even oneself to reach an incorrect conclusion.

When honest people are faced with evidence that they have reached an erroneous conclusion and mislead themselves they adjust their conclusion accordingly. If they have potentially mislead anyone else, they go out of their way to correct their mistake.

For most people, it is easy to ignore information that conflicts with a cherished belief or with their self-image. But for people like Joey, it is too painful to ignore the truth.

You don't see this very often, though you do tend to see it much more often within the CrossFit community. (You can't do this stuff without a willingness to be brutally honest with yourself--honest about time, weights, reps, form, etc.) CrossFit self-selects for honesty, and the CrossFit Community tends to look askance at the dishonest.

David, perhaps you can be honest as well. You have an axe to grind. You have gone out of your way to be consistently provocative and insulting. You routinely sidestep any and all information that doesn't fit with your views and your self-image.

You are trying to claim that you are being oppressed, censored, etc. As I have previously explained to you on the Black Box blog (in response to your trying to elevate your grievances at being banned from the site to some sort of First Amendment claim) there is absolutely nothing that requires a private organization to endure your endless insults.

You really need to move on.

Anyone interested in
splitting the cost of
hotel and rent-a-car in
Texas at the upcoming
January 19th-20th's level I cert,
send me an e-mail.
My misses would kill me if I didn't ask.

From Golda Meir, former Prime Minister of Israel:

"We can forgive you for killing our children; however, we can never forgive you for forcing us to kill your children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us."

Another, more troubling quote from Golda Meir:

This country exists as the fulfillment of a promise made by God Himself. It would be ridiculous to ask it to account for its legitimacy.

Le Monde, 1971-10-15

I support Israel, and have great admiration for Golda Meir, but there can be no doubting her Zionist perspective.

#83 MW: I missed the part where you explained how the Israelis should expect anything but further attacks by Palestinians if they let them in for any reason. Please help me. Every single shred of historical evidence points in that direction. All of it, as in none of it points to the possibility of a peaceful coexistence.

Pieces like that posted today only underscore what anyone with brains and shred of knowledge knows: the Palestinians are proxies for an Arab and Iranian funded effort to destroy Israel.

There was for a time a Hamas Mickey Mouse character, who told of Jewish savagery. He's no longer on there, though, as he was brutally murdered by the IDF, no doubt so his blood could be used in Purim pastries.

Also, you seem to miss the point that Israeli Arabs have more rights than, say, Saudi Arabs, Syrian Arabs, Egyptian Arabs, and Lebanese Arabs.

This whole discussion is freaking insane, and it is only through incessant double talk that anyone can possibly fail to see that the Arabs started a war they lost, which created refugees who want to kill Jews, and that those refugees could be settled any time in any number of Arab nations were they not politically useful.

Until the entire nation of Israel collapses in guilt and determines that maybe Hitler was right, and they should all be murdered by culturally retarded savages--who erect shrines, like the Sbarro's pizzeria scene, complete with bloody body parts, to suicide bombings--they will not let the Palestinians back in.

Yes the Palestinians have it tough. They have it tough because they are idiots, and the Arab nations are cynical. The Israels just want to survive, and one cannot blame them for that.

mr. cooper, that has to be one of the most simple minded and hateful things i have read on this site. "They have it tough because they are idiots." all argument aside, that is a woefully uninformed statement that does little more than play into the most extremist elements on both sides of the conflict. where to start???

#89 Dylan

I am well aware that it is a minority, which is why I always refered to them as Muslim extremists and not just Muslims in general. However, if it is only a small minority that believes this, then where are all of the other Muslims who should be crying out in outrage and denouncing the extremists tactics. If someone who claimed to be a Christian strapped a bomb to their chest and blew up civilians in the name of God, I would be outraged and do everything in my power to let others know that this is not a Christian ethic. Example, when an abortion clinic was bombed, Christians from all over the country expressed their sadness that someone claiming to be a Christian could at in such a way. I do not see a whole lot of that within the Muslim community. I am not saying that all Muslims are horrible people, so do not jump to conclusions. All I am saying is that if a group was misrepresenting my beliefs as badly as these extremist minorities, I would take a stand against it. Much respect to anybody in the Muslim community who has done the same.

about the article, umm a religion of peace?
more like a religion of lies.

above comment 111 is jason I saw that there is another Jason on here. just want to clarify.

#107,

Since you've been correctly outed as a resident biggot by post #108, I won't add any more there other than to refute some of your points for those readers who actually care to learn anything about this conflict.

You write:
>>I missed the part where you explained how the Israelis should expect anything but further attacks by Palestinians if they let them in for any reason. Please help me. Every single shred of historical evidence points in that direction. All of it, as in none of it points to the possibility of a peaceful coexistence.>Also, you seem to miss the point that Israeli Arabs have more rights than, say, Saudi Arabs, Syrian Arabs, Egyptian Arabs, and Lebanese Arabs.>This whole discussion is freaking insane, and it is only through incessant double talk that anyone can possibly fail to see that the Arabs started a war they lost, which created refugees who want to kill Jews, and that those refugees could be settled any time in any number of Arab nations were they not politically useful. <<

You're the one babbling double talk. Surely, the rest of the Arab states cynically used the Paletinians to pursue a power grab over Israel. They surely lost. However, in the modern world, losing a war does not mean the victor gets to occupy the land of the other side and begin a process of ethnic cleansing. If you take the land, you take people too. You have sovereignty over them. Thus, a country like Israel can call itself a true democracy and offer all those people equal citizenship, or it can itself a Jewish safe haven and pursue an apartheid state. That's their choice. We Americans don't have to unflinchingly support it.

Glass,

Since when are you in touch with the Muslim community or versed in Arabic/Persian/Urdu to know what their response is? You make your judgements based on the videos submitted to you by MEMRI, an organization whose main purpose is to promote pro-Israeli views. They have deemed that fomenting dislike or hatred of Muslims seems to be good for their conception of what it is to be pro-Israel.

If you really feel pissed off at the Muslims, why don't you in good faith go to a local mosque or Arab organization and ask for their response to such vitriolic propaganda. Then judge.

I am trying to get my fire dept to help pay for the certs.I would appreciate any info as to how crossfit helps firefighting. I know it does! I just have to convince them! Thanks and God Bless!

#110 Glass
Thats a good question. I have many Muslim friends who are disgusted by extremism but are torn by a sense of loyalty. They of course would openly denounce any killing but there pro-Palestine mentality is confused by most as being pro-extremism. Similarly I have many Jewish friends who are against war in almost all instances and didnt support Israels military siege on Palestine but they are pro-Israel. One of my friends is actually an Israeli citizen and he is now being called to serve time in their military. I have never seen someone so torn.

Also I didn't mean to insinuate you were generalizing all Muslims. I was just commenting on the generalization of the Koran specifically, since you were commenting on the post of someone who was talking about the generalization of Muslims.

Question about the squats in the Cindy video, and just squats in general. It looks like everyone is using the same size ball. Shouldn't taller people use a larger ball and shorter people use a smaller ball? It just seems to me that squating to a set height is going to cause tall people to go through a much larger range of motion and shorter people to not even get to 90 degrees. Seems like it would be better to have a height to squat down to that is proportional to your total height or better yet, inseam.

Just a thought, I could be off base here.

#42

Be stunned if you must. At least in a democracy "the people" are in control of their government and not controlled by a tyranny. There is no perfect governmental system but it is hard to argue that a democracy is not as close to perfect as we can get in regards to providing fairness and equality to the masses.

Missed the last 3 day rotation...enjoyed the night shift in a local exercise instead. So, when Endex was called at midnight last night the chem gear came off and I started playing catchup. A 10K around the darkened streets came in just under an hour (59:50) and Fran and Helen will be taken care of this afternoon and tomorrow AM. It's good to see Bolling AFB catching up with Crossfit, now I'll see if can convince the staff at our base mega-gym here to buy at least one C2 rower.

#107,

Since my comment will be truncated, I'll repeat and split the post in 2 parts:

You write:
>>I missed the part where you explained how the Israelis should expect anything but further attacks by Palestinians if they let them in for any reason. Please help me. Every single shred of historical evidence points in that direction. All of it, as in none of it points to the possibility of a peaceful coexistence.<<

Well, why has Egypt and Jordan, people that are supposedly the same as the Palestinians according to the "they're all arabs" crowd, made peace with Israel for the last 30 some odd years. It's because both parties came to the table and got what each side wanted, mostly guarantees regarding security (brokered and financed by USA). An agreement between Palestinians and Israelis is much more difficult because it would involve compromises on both sides that are deemed existential by a large number of their constituents. Many Israelis view the West Bank and Gaza as theirs. They have repeadly confiscated and taken Palestinian land in the occupied territories for settlements since Sharon started the settlement strategy as a cynical way of creating "facts on the ground" that would later make Palestine an impossibility. All the while Israel talks about wanting to make peace (throughout 80s and 90s), they accelerate their settlement programs. Does that sound like people who want to "co-exist"?

#107,

Part 2 of comment:

You write:

>>Also, you seem to miss the point that Israeli Arabs have more rights than, say, Saudi Arabs, Syrian Arabs, Egyptian Arabs, and Lebanese Arabs.<<

That's also silly. Israeli Arabs do not have more rights than Egyptian Arabs or Lebanese Arabs, and while they have certain rights that Saudi Arabs and Syrian Arabs don't have, they lack certain rights that we Americans would feel is vital. Mainly, an Israeli Arab cannot buy real property in most parts of Israel proper because Israel proper (part of Israel that is not West Bank and Gaza) is deemed to be primarily for Jews. Thus, Israeli Arabs have to live in crappy areas that have been deemed suitable for Arabs, even though they are supposedly citizens of Israel

Moreover, your argument is silly even if it were true. That's like me saying that American under slavery or Jim Crowe shouldn't be criticized because black Americans had it so much better than blacks living in Africa. Their rights were still trampled and that history is still an embarrassing part of our American heritage. More recently, stating that black South Africans under Apartheid had more rights than blacks under Idi Amin doesn't absolve Apartheid of criticism.

Day #5 IR

800M run x 3, 1:1 work:rest

3:24
3:18
3:10

Nothing sums up the generations long Arab/Israeli conflict than this presentation. Sure, it's "biased" towards Israel but it provides 90% of the information that gets lost in the shuffle and you will never hear on TV.

http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened/

RUN: 5.5 Miles

5 Rounds:
50 Push-ups
50 Air Squats
20 Shoulder Shrugs 90lbs-each arm
50 Crunches w/ 25lbs Wt
20 Calf Raise @ 160lbs
20 Toe Raise @ 100lbs

5 Rounds:
25X 24" Box Jump
1 min Jump Rope
30X 25lbs Kettleball Juggling (Ea. arm)

SWIM: 1000 yards

#82

Loved the post. I bet your a riot to party with.

Rest, what does that word actually mean?

though i'm not as quick to throw names, mr. cooper seemed to let the cat escape the bag in his last post. odd because it betrays a somewhat reasonable, if shrill, assessment in a previous post. yes, palestinian people are unlucky enough to have the american left as their most vocal champion, to the extent that it is inevitably married to a wider social critique (capitalism, coloniolism et al.) and is never able to stand on its own as a case of legitimate issue of self determination. but that takes nothing from the immoral conditions that persist in the occupied territories.
i think mg is also right in his distillation of the conflict. israel has a demographic problem. politics aside, everyone agrees on that. if they want to remain a jewish nation, they have to do something about all the muslims and christians whom they share the land with. the only long term solutions to that fact are 1) evolve into a pluralist non confessional democracy or 2) create an apartheid state. leaving aside recent indications that some elements of the israeli government have opted for the latter, those are two nonviable choices in the current climate, also due in no small part to the regional insanity. luckily we have a short term solution that most level headed participants accept- a 2 state solution.

Glass
i appreciate the very same sentiment you express. i often get frustrated by the seeming lack of engagement with these issues by the muslim community. but there are reasons we don't see that, having a lot to do with the kind of exposure the muslim world gets in the west. dig a little deeper and i think you'll find that there is qutie a lot of work being done among the arab/muslim/persian communities to combat that strain of ideology. above i posted another link from memri. here, http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA39807

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determines the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."
-HERMANN GORING AT THE NUREMBERG TRIALS
sounds all too familiar

Mcal,

You take one statement, pretend it was the sum of what I said, then call it hate filled. I don't hate the Palestinians. I think they are stupid. They are stupid because they could use the overwhelming moral pressure placed on the Israeli government from within and without to get what they want. They could use non-violent, Gandhian tactics, and they would get what they want, because they would thereby have shown themselves socially mature enough to be trusted.

As it is, they attack Israel every chance they get, rejoice in the streets over the murder of innocent women and children, and then wonder why the residents of Tel Aviv and Haifa don't want them as neighbors.

The fact that you fail to grasp this, and resort instead to name-calling, shows that you are not serious about resolving this issue, or even trying to look at it with other than the blinkers of a left wing apologist for unapologetic and autocratic murderers.

MG,

Refute? Perhaps that means "ignore everything that is inconvenient or I don't understand" in Latin. Not sure.

You state:
"However, in the modern world, losing a war does not mean the victor gets to occupy the land of the other side and begin a process of ethnic cleansing. If you take the land, you take people too. You have sovereignty over them. Thus, a country like Israel can call itself a true democracy and offer all those people equal citizenship, or it can itself a Jewish safe haven and pursue an apartheid state."

What planet are you living on? In the modern world as in the ancient world, if you start a war, and lose, bad things happen.

If you think about it--seriously, try--Palestine was not British land, it was Ottoman land. Why are you not incensed that Turkey no longer controls it? They lost it in a war, and they won't get it back. If you study history--seriously, try--you will find that most of it consists in wars being fought, victories and defeats, and land from the defeated being ceded to the victors.

In the case of Israel, War was legally declared by all surrounding Arab nations the moment the nation was formally created, and British dominion ended.

If you start a war, then lose a war, don't complain about the outcome. It is almost like somebody trying to hold you up with a gun, you take the gun from them and bonk them on the head, you keep the pistol, and they complain that life isn't fair. In this case, life is fair. Had the Palestinians conducted themselves with dignity and maturity it might be possible to feel more sorry for them, but when you read about things like the Ma'alot massacre, you can only conclude you are dealing with monsters, and the fact of the matter is that these monsters enjoy wide popular support.

Here is a very short summary of just a handful of attacks: http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1967to1991_terrorism_1970s.php

Again, why should the Israelis trust the Palestinians to reenter their country? Why? Ignore "fairness", and pretend you are a rational adult concerned with the safety and security of your country.

Also, just in case that argument overwhelms you, you need to remember that the default accusations are racist and some contraction of national socialist, although it may perhaps be ill-suited here since I am defending a Jewish position. Still, Mussollini's party might do.

The point of the exercise, self evidently, is to redirect attention from the fact that I am presenting a simple true narrative and drawing obvious conclusions, to the possibility that I might somehow be more hateful than people who stand in the middle of crowds of teenage girls and blow them to pieces. That obviously is the act of a courageous freedom fighter, whereas I am just a tool of--pick your group. The Jews? That would be an obvious one. The Neocons? That may do too.

Surprise me.

#91 Gale- Mom, Glad to see you posting again! Looks like your back is feeling better. Hopefully I'll be able to come out that way soon and we can knock out a few WOD's together.

Greg- Brother.. Awesome!

CCTJOey- Thanks again for the info.

NEED A PARTNER to workout in Miami Beach. please!

Brad,

Nice. I haven't seen that in over a week.

For the other posts that just came through, again: why should the Israelis trust the Palestinians? And if that can't and shouldn't happen, why won't the Palestinians stop attacking the Israelis? They are already home, and just can't manage to make anything of it. They can't have a normal economy, because their attacks--widely supported by the population--keep forcing the Israelis to close the borders.

And in any event, why have the Jews taken mostly non-arable land, starting from something close to nothing, and made Israel the prosperous democracy it is today, when in every other Arab nation things have stagnated. When was the last time you bought something made in Egypt or Syria?

With respect to rights, to Egyptian Arabs have the right to a writ of habeas corpus? To the unquestioned ownership of private property, regardless of purchasing restrictions? To assembly? To freedom of speech? To freedom of religion?

I don't think so.

barry, that statement summarizes what you said because you put it at the end of a long post in a fashion that befits... a summary. please reread what you wrote. it was not a throwaway line.
and you know, i have often muttered "those stupid idiots" with reference to the palestinians. but i'm not going to endorse, or carry water for, or have my tax dollars spent on a policy of ethnic cleansing which is what you are doing. please don't deny it. you have repeated it incessantly throughout this forum. i dont think youre at all serious about this topic, mr. cooper.

#35 Reto:

Man, I wish I could say the same thing. I just can't yet keep up the rhythm. I can do more strict pullups at this point than straight kips. I've studied the videos over and over, but I'll keep trying. The pullups are the only thing holding me back from a decent Fran. I can get the thrusters straight through.
Patience grasshopper...

I hate it (I feel I can use the word hate since it is so prevalent on the comments page today) when I agree or mostly agree with some of the more strident, "never can prove me wrong posters."

israel had a crippled economy until recent military ventures created a healthy export market. talk to any young israeli in new york (my old home) and theyll tell you there are no opportunities there. but it also helps when your economy is bouyed by even healthier financial aid packages courtesy of the american tax payer.

#108, mcal,

Perhaps the main reason that humans value intelligence is because intelligence allows us to improve the quality of our lives in general and our children’s lives in particular.

Thus, it would seem that a good proxy for estimating the intelligence of a culture is the quality of life they seek to provide for their children. Viewed in this way, it is easy to understand why people who choose to turn their children into suicide bombers might be thought of as idiots.

In this instance the label "idiot" is not based on some immutable characteristic of a given group, but on observable behavior. (For example, the statement "left-handed people are dishonest" is a bigoted statement. The statement "people who lie are dishonest" is not bigoted.)

So to be perfectly clear, I am of the opinion that all parents (American, Arab, English, French, German, etc.) who wish to turn their children into suicide bombers are idiots.

Do you disagree?

Running a day behind. I just hit a 3:09 fran. I'm stoked! Didn't thnk I had a new PR in me because my diet has been the craps. Good way to start a week vacation in Hawaii!

of course i agree. but palestinians, as a whole, do not advocate children become suicide bombers. when the hamas propoganda station tried it, they were quickly shut down. not by the protestations of memri, the US or Israelis but by their own people. in the case cited on todays post, they are not referring to martyrs as suicide bombers but as "shaheed". shaheed, used in this context has nothing to do with suicide bombing. again, anyone who dies during the intifada is a shaheed. the "martyr" this cartoon memorializes was jsut an innocent kid trying to get home with his father. is this propoganda? absolutely. but its produced by the most theocratic elements of hamas. and we're not as privy to some of the things being taught children of the right wing ultra orthodox who are building settlements on the west bank. they are jsut as scary.
and for the record, i never called you biogoted. but you did reveal a rather cruel side to your reasoning. thats fine. this is a forum, not a court room. i know youre probably not a bigot or cruel. the more argument the better. the contest of ideas is the sign of a healthy community. i'd puke with you on any day.

#131 firekillr

dunno if it'll makes a difference in your kips, but what did it for me was focusing on the swing forward at the bottom. Thought about driving the hips forward & head in front of the arms, then jerking & explosively pulling. It was the driving the head part forward that I noticed the kids doing on the vid & sort of put everything into rhythm for me. So far not worrying too much about pushing off the top or anything else. I don't think your brain has enough time to process everything conciously since it's a pretty complex movement that happens quickly, so just focus on one aspect at a time.

i just read the rest of yesterday's posts. First, Adam Price: Thanks for the lecture. Really. Nadia, you continue to amaze. Mike, "only" a 2:43? Smoking!You're right on Speal's butt. Saw the info on the OPT fun. Good luck to Intent, Gaucoin, Rob Corson. Tear it up, guys.

42yom 185lbs

Hockey season is in high gear, my WODs are further apart now. Plus I picked up the flu from a simple visit at the hospital.

Fran: As Rx'd 6:25 (last Fran was 6:15)

You know, just when you think this place is out of surprises, another cool thing happens. I've been hanging out on the sidelines (as you might notice from post #44) on this "Brutal Workout" thing. I'd like to introduce you to the athlete himself, JackM, who has posted #683 yesterday. If you've been participating, or if you've just been watching like me, do yourself a favor and read his post and then introduce yourself. Jack is ME, just stronger, younger, and better at filling out his UA heat gear. Jack is every one of us who never went to a cert, doesn't have an affiliate nearby, and saw the light when he landed on Crossfit.com. Go say hi.

And Joey, while the athletic strength of the notables here is what we all rave about, what we tell our children about is the CHARACTER of the notables here at CF. Tonight at the dinner table we talked about you. You're a role model, sir. Stand proud.

# 115 MG

First off, be careful about throwing around the word "judge" when you know nothing about me and yet you assume I know nothing about the muslim community, and that I get my information from a METMI video, which I NEVER EVEN WATCHED. I do not need to watch that video as I already know about MEMRIs political leanings and therefore knew that it would be biased. And when did I ever say that I am "pissed" off at the Muslim community? I made it very clear that I was speaking about muslim extremists. So who is judging who? I know it is a difficult, complex situation, and I will admit I do not know everything about it, and I am willing to bet that you do not either, but your not helping your case by accusing me of being judgmental. There was not even any helpful information in your response. Look at #117 Dylan's and # 127 Mcal's response. Much more appropriate. I am not mad at you MG, just do not appreciate being accused of something I did not do.

#117 Dylan and #127 Mcal

Thanks for the insight. Dylan I feel for your friend. It is difficult to believe and to fight, but it is good that he is torn. If he was not torn about taking human life, then he should worry.

Skipped the 10k, so had to skip the rest day. did burpees for distance-200m, throwing my ghetto 20# medicine ball as far as I could every time I burpeed ( is that a verb?) up to it. 100 m