WODs and rolling @ BJJ class have me beatdown. Anyone else having that problem?

I am in preparation for:

45th Annual Golden West Open
Olympic Lifting Competition
November 9th (Sunday), 2008
FIT Barbell Club
600 Fremont Ave.
Los Altos, CA 94024

See you there!

So when is the movie coming to theaters near me?

nice, squash day

Did today's 5k...

M/19/5'8"/164

17:29. Went out in 5:46 missed second split and closed in 5:31. Too lazy to do the math, to find the second one, odd, because i'm a physics major...

anyway, should be getting that time down, I'm still mid recovery from that Baltimore Marathon.

Peace and Love to you all, can't wait for Friday's WOD.

And if anyone is doing crossfit in College Park, MD please, for the love of all that is holy, let me know.

Video - Coach B is spot on!

Article - I never had any confidence that TSA was worth a damn and the article confirms it. Guess we all need to train harder to be prepared to deal with the terrorists ourselves.

I love crossfit! I just love it. The community is fantastic. The results are real. I'm not just having this epiphany. I've been Crossfitting for over a year and I was sold after 1 workout. However, sometimes I am overwhelmed with how fantastic all of this is.

If I could, I would jump up and down on Oprah's couch shouting about how much I love Crossfit. (Then I'd make Crossfit convert to Scientology and have a child with me.)

ps: can't wait for the CF Games movie!

5 K in Toronto sucked!
so frigging cold

TSA = Minimum wage, poor training, we get what we pay for

amen day off, way to cold in ottawa for 5k to be enjoyable

nice work gillian!

TSA - another way the govt hires great Americans and ensures they are not productive.

I suppose there's some virtue in keeping the nutsoes off the planes but ... surely no one thought that TSA was going to make us safe? No matter how good the people are, no matter how much they care ...

I got to see Coach B training Gillian at the Games - what a weekend. Paul

W,

How appropriate you are named after one hell of a President. It is easy to cast aspersions about people. Never discount a person's dedication and hard work that they have amassed over their lifetime.

So I don't usually post, but I thought this was worth it. More than anything, I'd like to hear about how others do with this one. I got this off of the Navy Seals "SealFit" program. Give it a try.

For time:

Run 800 Meters

21-15-9
Thrusters (95 lbs)
Pull ups

Run 800 Meters

21-15-9
Thrusters (95 lbs)
Pull ups

Run 800 Meters

My PR for Fran is 2:59 and this workout took me 25:19, so do the math. It burnt me out. Anyway, like I said, I'd love to compare some times.

Comment #16 - Posted by: tquinn

I did one similar to that one at a hopper challenge in June at CF Unlimited in Milpitas, CA:

3 rounds for time:
Run 400m
30 Thrusters @ 95 lbs
30 Pull-ups (chin to bar)

20:15

(Jason Khalipa's time was 16:15)

Article- As an airline pilot i think this sums up nicely how most of us view the effectiveness of the Tub Stackers Association. I must take exception with #11s characterization as minimum wage employees. They in fact start at about $13/hr which is often more then the newly hired First Officer who is flying your plane. (True a starting wage as a pilot is about $22/hr but it's unlikely they will make more than 5 hours of pay on any given day.)

Great video - Nice tips on how to speed up your cycle time; so hard to keep your brain out of the way while you're trying to work.

Interesting article, too. I have noticed some of the same problems at our Canadian airports, as well (though I've never tried to get 80oz of beer through in a pouch under my shirt - maybe a camelback would work).

It should be clear from this article and many others that a defensive approach to counter-terrorism will not work.

Such policies are entirely insufficient to the task of preventing large scale terrorist attacks a la 9/11.

Only an offensive approach aimed at denying the terrorists the sanctuaries of impunity and resources that they thrive off of will be effective. Not perfect, but effective.

However, terrorists are relatively easy to kill, but hard to find. The necessary prerequisite to effective offensive military action against terrorist networks is accessing the information that will enable us to locate them, understand how their organizations function, and pinpoint their points of vulnerability. We cannot capture or kill someone whom we cannot find.

The question we should now ask, therefore, is how do we increase our information access on terrorist networks? As an example, why does the Pakistani sanctuary for Al Qaeda and the Taliban still elude us?

Is what's lacking a lack of military force? The US can, as it has repeatedly demonstrated, target any part of the FATA sanctuary with predator drone-fired missiles, not to mention the SOF units who have operated there.

What is missing is the information access.

I had the opportunity to attend the Al Qaeda 3.0 conference in D.C. a few weeks back with some of the biggest names in counterterrorism. Nearly every presenter highlighted the need to target terrorist sanctuaries. None offered a practical plan on how to do so.

The technologically-superempowered terrorist network is a relatively new enemy for the U.S., and we will need to develop new capacities, s.o.p.'s, and even new institutions to competently combat the problem.

Emulating the Al Qaeda, and Crossfit model, of a decentralized network of small groups of highly motivated and skilled people collaborating towards a common end would be a good start. Studying the techniques of individuals such as Gary Schroen, Ali Soufan, Rita Katz, and Orde Wingate who have succeeded at gaining information access superiority over terrorist networks is another good idea. Find out what enabled these individuals to succeed, then use those methods within the aforementioned decentralized organizational model.

Reading the article makes me even more frustrated that TSA made me remove my 7 month-old son's sweatshirt and Ryobees (if you have children, you know!) before going through security.

#18 - I like that, "Tub Stackers Association". Thanks!

TSA's purpose are purely psychological. They are 100% ineffective in stopping terrorism. It's about using fear to establish control and power over the general population which profiteers can exploit for money. Terrorist aren't a threat, we have been so consumed by them that we are committing suicide without realizing it. The threat has become our own neo-con governance.

Coach B could teach anyone. One minute of his time is priceless.

I've been really happy with the Journal recently. I especially Loved the article about Coaching the (Almost) Elderly with Jim Baker and Kathie. I think CrossFit should come up with an entirely new term for older CrossFitters because they certainly do not seem like the kind of elderly people I'm used to.

CrossFit really is for everyone so it's nice to see more kinds of people being represented. I know there are all kinds of people out there CrossFitting, I've seen it with my own eyes.

I've been in heated discussions with trainers and people about CrossFit being infinitely scalable and appropriate for people at all levels and with different needs and abilities. It is. People who come to the site, watch a few videos and see the WOD can't always understand that. I've showed a few of them the video from the old HQ with Mary Connover, B, Annie and a few other people doing a WOD together - I think it was OH walking lunge with a DB, KTEs and Rowing. Helped them wrap their heads around it when they saw Mary doing a WOD scaled to her needs.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing crazy strong men and women kick serious butt in workouts. It's so impressive and entertaining to watch. But seeing a 64 year old woman, looking more fit and beautiful than women 20 years younger is also incredibly impressive.

It's the kind of stuff that can change peoples lives. It can change their ideas of what's possible for older people to do. Show that to a 40 year old woman and then all the sudden it makes more sense. It seems possible and realistic. I'm not saying that a chick with minimal BF and 15" guns doesn't inspire a bazillion people, including me, but it's refreshing to see what normal people look like when they CrossFit. It IS for everyone. Let's see everyone.

I've said it a million times - it seems like CrossFit stops and then reverses the aging process. I can only hope that I'm moving and looking like Kathie when I'm 64. I'm confident that I will be because of this program. I'm so grateful that I found CF at 22 and I plan on sticking with it for the rest of my life.

Jacinto inspires the heck out of me beating people my age in WODs at 69. So do people people who are overweight and working hard to become fit by CrossFitting. It's powerful stuff. I hope I get to see more of it.

Great article, confirms all the suspicions and frustration I have had every time I've flown in the last 7 years. It never did say, were they able to get on the flight with the forged passes?

Re: Post 20 cfogc:
That's a very well thought out and articulate post. You're clearly someone who knows the subject and feels passionately about it, something I respect deeply. I agree a purely defensive approach will not work. I wonder, have you given any thought to the idea of removing more than their sanctuaries? I'm thinking, can we go so far as to remove their motivation?

While extremist Islam is clearly an easily-greased path towards violence it seems to me there needs to be some starting seeds of resentment and hate readily waiting to be turned into violence and terrorism. People have to have a pretty strong reason to want to blow themselves up. From what I've seen a summary of any of the western governments' actions in the middle east from the crusades up to the US's own actions of the last 60 years shows where those seeds of hate and resentment must clearly come from.

I'm not a pacifist, but at the same time I know an eye for an eye is going to leave everyone blind and probably still pissed off. Is there a path we can take that will diminish or remove the motivational fuel the extremist teachers have to fuel the fires of hate in the hearts of those deeply hurt by the endless wars? We are human beings on both sides of this thing, Muslim or Christian, and so by understanding how and why our enemy is thinking can we find an easier way to destroy his very reasons for fighting? Admittedly this is a difficult path, because it would mean the hardest thing: changing our own selves (our government's international behavior, our population's oil addiction, etc).

I think the first step is going to need to be a frank examination of why we are interested in that region at all: oil. And any real examination of that particular issue comes to only one conclusion that I can see, which is that oil is both an exceptionally powerful resource but also one with a quickly diminishing timeline of affordability and availability. Not to mention it has a lot of negative side effects, so we had better use it for only the most worthy purposes we can find.

Soapbox Stand: 15 min

Did the 50's from a few days back today and they felt great, laid me low especially the burpees. No accurate stopwatch time, but estimated on the wall clock at 38 minutes.

Gillian,

Solid work, we're all fortunate to be able to see an athlete of your caliber move. You are obviously the result of a LIFETIME of hard work and dedication. I for one am amazed at how quickly you learned what Coach B was teaching you!

That alone speaks volumes about your athletic abilities, great job!

Mac

#23 - AllisonNYC
Great description of the versatility, power and inspiration of CF!

I've been trying to get my parents to try crossfit for months. Since they're getting older I can't help but worry about them and their health. They've been really doubtful about being able to do CF style workouts. But I made my mom watch Kathie's video the other day and she has finally - FINALLY! - agreed to give crossfit a try. Yay! Kathie could persuade my mom to try CF in a nine minute video where I failed to persuade her for months with words. I think seeing an 'ordinary' (and I use the term loosely since Kathie is extraordinary) woman around her own age really made my mom realize she too IS capable of these things.

I've also really been loving the journal in its new format. Thanks guys!

To those who haven't checked the journal lately, there is a great new article on creating a strong foundation for CF beginners. The beginner's ladder is just the kind of routine my mom could use. Great timing! Thank you thank you thank you!

Cheers,
R.

After meeting Gilliam at the CrossFit Games I would say she is simply a very friendly and humble person with a fairly hardcore training background who is quite adept at kickng butt.

#1. Im doing the same thing. Crossfit every morning and 1-2 hours of MMA at night. Considering I just started crossfit about three weeks ago and I just basically got up to the workouts as RXed I am not sure if Im sore and beat up for the increased demands of my fitness program or just because it really is alot. Since I'm deployed I dont really have anything else to do in my free time and I don't mind feeling a little beat up and sore if its gonna make me better in the long run.

has anyone else noticed that TSA agents are usually the shadiest looking people in the airport?

chin up and burpee WOD

i did this WOD trying new stuff

chest to bar on pull ups
chest to ground and clap above head for burpee

as rx'd 17min 40sec

can some one please give me the standard for the pull up chest to bar or just chin over bar?
also do you have to clap above head on burpee?

Exactly what CFOGC said.

Did 5K last night; 21:33. Treadmill tempo run.

Renata #26,

Thanks for that post. That is a great idea and something I've been thinking about, too. Physical activity is so necessary for people of all ages.

And regarding today's article -- how scary is that? Airport security "theater." So would it be wise for me to sneak a knife onto a plane for protection, just in case a "bad guy" sneaks one on, too? It's pretty ridiculous that you can bring any amount of any solution you want, as long as it's in a bottle labeled "saline solution."

What a specimen.

There are no sure fire answers for airport security. TSA has alot of good men and women working for them and no they dont check the contents of every bottle.....can you imagine? also when is there a law against carrying a flag or T-Shirt however offensive? This is a land of freedom of speech. Its easy to sit back and see all the short comings but I think if you sit back and look at the task at hand from all sides you cannot make planes 100% secure.

What does as "Rx'd" mean?

It's ok Barry Obama will fix everything. No terrorist will dare enter the People's Republic Of America then.

#37

Rx'd = as perscribed

Gillian is an awsome!
I've got to get some time with Coach.

Everyone should be armed, without exception. I would kick people off the flight that weren't prepared to defend themselves...

The West has become a bunch of pansies.

I want Freedom NOT 'security'.

Allison: very nice post.

Gillian: simply a delight to meet you in Aromas.

Paul and Dale: every Games video makes me smile. Thanks again for being such a huge part of a great weekend.

Hey Coach, nice timing on the TSA article, just before I'm hopping on a plane to visit "The Heir" in Colorado. Sheesh...

Jolly Green -

Do Islamic terrorist networks base their ideology and recruiting off of a narrative of Western exploitation of the Middle East? Absolutely.

But we must remember how few resources are actually required for large scale terrorist attacks. 9/11 required an estimated $500,000, 19 very committed men, and a relatively small support network. None of these require a widespread or popular ideology.

We could persuade 99.9% of the people in the Muslim world that the U.S. loves them, yet Al Qaeda and similar organizations would still be able to amass the resources and manpower necessary for large scale attacks.

I always find it funny when I read analyses of the strategic decline of Al Qaeda based off of a few opinion polls and quotes from experts. Such analyses are always subsequently forced to admit that despite this "strategic decline," Al Qaeda is still willing and able to execute large scale terrorist attacks.

The essence of the problem of terrorism is that small groups of very motivated men are now able to cause extraordinarily large levels of destruction to modern civilization with very small inputs of manpower and resources. The U.S. still does not have a full idea of how to respond to this problem. We cannot solve it problem through a war of ideas, or through defensive measures, or even through conquering the nation-states of the Middle East with our military. Those may help, but we must gain information access superiority over these networks and then use our special operations units and bombs to destroy, or at least, severely weaken them.

“The whole system is designed to catch stupid terrorists,” Schnei­er told me. A smart terrorist, he says, won’t try to bring a knife aboard a plane, as I had been doing; he’ll make his own, in the airplane bathroom."

Which goes to show that it doesn't matter what physical thing a person brings on a plane, its what they intend to do with it that counts. I used to bring all kinds of stuff before they wouldn't allow people certain items. I never hijacked anyone.

#42 - you are correct, we must send them all back to Allah as soon as possible. The sooner we help their journey, the sooner we have peace. The only way to kill an idea is to kill everyone who has the idea.

"The Things He Carried" showed yet another example of uselessly pumping money ($7 billion the article said) into another useless government program.

Great article. And now I know how to travel if I ever go "off the grid" LOL.

The way I see it is that we've failed to implement what works; the El Al model, because of political correctness. We can thank Norman Mineta and the perpetually offended for this - you know who you are. It's a question of pragmatism vs. idealism.

JollyGreenGiant, removing the motivational fuel for the extremist teachers would require the removal of their religion. If you analyze long & hard their words, actions, and patterns you will see that their methods are not remotely limited in application to the West. Could I convince you to blow yourself up b/c of the crusades or maybe the French/Indian war? How about b/c of a coup in Peru in the 50's or something that was done to Canada last year? There are an endless pool of injustices to choose from that have little or nothing to do with my life. An endless supply of disaffected. But a very distince pattern of who is willing and eager to kill innocents by the thousands. When they are not inflicting violence against the infidels of the West, they inflict massive violence and intolerance in Africa, India, Indonesia, etc., etc., etc. Even in their own states against those who are not fundamental enough, or against those who would have the audacity to reject their ideology and leave their religion. Apostasy, as you know, is punishable by death. Therefore, and again, after a great deal of analysis, I have concluded that the history of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, by no means something to be necessarily proud of, has very little to do with the root problem: an ideology of facism. I am not denying ugly events in foreign policy history - nearly every relevant country has them, but only saying this is a naive point of view to think that these people would be de-radicalized through any particular action on our part.

Those on the left continually refuse to ackowledge and deal with this. But hey, the greatest purpose in life is Jihad, right?

Thought it was an interesting article. Couldn't finish because the dude used the longest sentences ever and it held me up. Plus the thought of easing my fear of flying with the Beer Belly distracted me. Those airport bars are so expensive. I think wearing both the Wine Rack PLUS the Beer Belly would be the perfect storm of party...

I respect the security people in Airports across the world and I think they have a very tough job ahead. It is all of our responsibility to watch out for eachother...And to the TSA dudes at DIA...sorry about taking the wheelchair down the escelator...I was really sick and my sister is too blonde to find an elevator. You diddn't have to take it away though...PEACE, B

Golf Mike,

I did not propose killing an idea, nor to kill everyone who is Muslim, or an Islamist. If it was your desire to paint me as a bloodthirsty warmonger who is ignorant, or even contemptuous of foreign ideas and culture, you have misjudged entirely.

I proposed killing the members of the terrorist networks that plot for your and my destruction every day. Not merely for the sake of retribution but rather in order to weaken their organizations to make the mass murders of innocent people more difficult for them to accomplish.

What is your alternative, perhaps even more enlightened, proposal to prevent future terrorist attacks?

OK boys and girls...everyone over the the Affiliate Blog (link on the left side of the Main Page) for a serious 2:08 "Fran" video. Speed, strength, agility, form, in a word virtuosity.

A great performance. Kudos.

Good Morning all,

I have two questions regarding two different things. 1. I ran today the 5k with the POSE run technique and need some guidance. I have been running for years and am pretty fast at it. I usually hit a 5k in 18:00 or less time. Today I ran it is 22:04 due to trying out the POSE running. I was falling to the ball of the foot, which overloaded my calves. I pulled the foot up instead of the push off like normal, and felt a loss of stride in the gate of my run. I liked the work and the economy of motion, but I need some advise from experienced runners to know if I use my heel to ball of foot pattern with the pull, which is my normal way, is that bad or do I have to have the ball of foot strike first.

2. I love crossfit and what it does. I see most of the videos that most guys have a good build with decent chest results as well. I have always been lean and ripped out the frame sort of speak. I am not one who needs to look as certain way, I love being effective and strong. However, is it the fact that shoulder muscles and other back muscles have gained in size to make the chest not seem so pronounced, of have I lost some of the chest I used to have. I love the shape I am in, and want to be stonger at the Oly lifts to one day do what others do here. My fitness is great, but what am I missing in what I do. I do the WOD, even have a good warm up, and adjust to the warm ups for Oly Lifts. Just wondering, how each individual approaches the Crossfit with thier own goals. I use it with my Martial Arts program I teach and use the WOD as prescribed. Any help is appreciated.

Ruminations on the article...

As cfogc pointed out, the "U.S. still does not have a full idea of how to respond to this problem." As far as I can see, what is being faced here is a new(er) kind of warfare, but it is still being fought in a "classical" way; current security measures seem, to me, to be an attempt to transpose defence measures from (1) military strategy that used to be applied against attackers that tried to advance into your position, into (2) public strategy against attackers who simply strike and leave carnage, without the goal of advancing anything but an ideology. Needless to say, the circumstances are somewhat different.

I would hazard a guess that the lack of information that cfogc talks about has something to do with the fact that terrorist networks are trans-territorial, unpredictable (they do not regard the "rules" of "classical" warfare about, for example, civilians and combat), multi-faceted (political, social, and military) organisations, and not necessarily distinguishable from the populations they live in (unlike the West, where the State/military are separate to the people). I suppose a simple analogy would be like fighting ghosts.

The only resolved example of this newer kind of warfare that I can think of is that of the British Government in Northern Ireland; perhaps some lessons can be learnt from this?

I'm no expert in these matters, so for those who know better than me, forgive any mistakes.

F/42/5'6/124

yest.5k 25:01

#22-

"TSA's purpose are purely psychological. They are 100% ineffective in stopping terrorism. It's about using fear to establish control and power over the general population which profiteers can exploit for money. Terrorist aren't a threat, we have been so consumed by them that we are committing suicide without realizing it. The threat has become our own neo-con governance."

I heard "terrorism is not a threat" before. The other idiot who said it was Michael Moore.

Let's review:
1993 - WTC bombing
1993 - Attempted assassination of President Bush
1996 - Khobar Towers bombing
1998 - 2 simultaneous U.S. Embassies bombed, Africa
2000 - USS Cole bombing
2001 - WTC, Pentagon attacked

Terrorism is not a threat? How about you tell that to all the families of the victims of the people who carried out this very short list. Do some research. There is a lot more.

Re: Golf Mike

"The only way to kill an idea is to kill everyone who has that idea."

I'm afraid you'll find that the only way to kill ideas is to kill anyone capable of having ideas, which would be everyone.

Besides which, if what you said is true:

Even if you do not *believe* in the idea, you still know of that idea, i.e. have that idea (in your head). This would entail that most people living in the West would have to be killed, just to make sure that idea was truly killed.

Oh, and we'd have to destroy the tapes and burn the books which documented these ideas in any way, shape or form.

Because, if we don't do these things, the idea will still be there, even if much weakened, and may become resurgent and cause future generations harm.

This isn't so much about ideas as it is about people, and how to stop them being killed by other people.

Bingo -

Thanks for the post to the affiliate blog, glad I didn't miss that.

Very legit Fran at 2:08!

To tell the truth the only ones not trying to give a feel good about protection from terrorism is Military, Law Enforcement, Paramedics and Firefighters. I am in the Marine Corps and always have to be ready along with all those others to try and be proactive, and God forgive reactive to a terrorist attack. Terrorism will never go away. All we can do is impliment controls to ward it off. What you don't see is all that work that goes into such a thing. Not the business of Airport security, which is managed by a company and is in it for the business. I believe some of them intend well, but nothing is ever full proof, unless you take flying away. Then, the terrorists would use another approach. The way to the means does not matter to them, as long as the fear, intimidation, anomosity and anything else to break up the strength and unity of a government power and it's people is effective. Ideals a terrorist believe in will always exist. Just like any other Idea as anothe poster stated. Just like the sickness of racism, it still exsists in many forms, to include jokes from both sides. I for one like others would love for this not to be, but it will never be gone. As long as there are different people with various beliefs, there will always be ideas that others don't like or have to worry about. What we miss here, is the sickness of extremist groups right here in the US. Groups that have their own firepower and military format within themselves. I am sure they love when we are distracted with outside force to allow them to build on that without us even looking at them twice. They exist right here, some of whom you ahve seen right in front of your face, but their greatest weapon is our ignoring them, or being ignorant to their presence. Think about it.

Regarding the article...

I saw this posted all over the military: PPPPPPP. Anyone out there know what it is?

It's really to bad our government can't follow their ideals when coming up with little jingles like PPPPPPP.

Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance(ppppppp). Yeah, we here in the military know what it means. However, In a political wrap, and also how terrorism is ever changing in warfare, that is a constant variable. You are right if they could only follow up with everything they come up with. By the way, the government didn't come up with it. Those in the military who have to react, and be proactive to those things the Government misses or doesn't prepare for, came up with it to keep up ever ready. We are the strong hold for this country no matter who they want to blame or who is at fault.

That is why we still have the freedom(paid for by all those who fight or have been laid victim)to say things like:
Semper Fidelis and GOD BLESS

my dad has bad knees. i want him to get into crossfit but he cant run and most likely cant squat.

ANY SUGGESTIONS!

CFOGC,
Great posts. I fully agree that we need to take a roundturn on our tactics if we intend to actually "win" this "war." I put war in quotations because it is unlike anything we've ever seen. History has shown us that as tactics and warfighting evolve, each nation must evolve with it, lest they be overcome by their adversaries. This is no different. The special operations community is making very solid and real contributions to the fight, but there needs to more support from the government in order for them to continue to conduct such missions. Additionally, I believe that attrition is still one of their major obstacles and coming up with a solution to forge more warriors (of the same caliber!) should be one of our military's top priorities.

I6,
As always, spot on brother!

JGG,
It would be great if we could just leave the Middle East, change our foreign policies, and eliminate our need for oil, and everything would become peachy-keen. The fact of the matter is that much of their hatred comes from their extremist version of Islam (which one could argue is the most "correct" version, but I don't really care to get into that).

Some examples:

"But if they turn back (from Islam), take (hold of) them and kill them wherever you find them..."
- Surah 4:89, The Noble Quran

"Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah [a form of religious tax] with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."
-Surah 9:29, The Noble Quran

There are also verses in the Quran which state that the only guaranteed way for a Muslim to get into Paradise is through martyrdom. I don't have my Quran on hand to add those quotes in - anyone interested, please feel free to email me.

The sad fact is that no matter what Westerners do, the extremists will always have a hatred and desire to kill us, regardless of our policies or "invasions." The only way to prevent the unnecessary loss of innocent lives is to take the fight to the extremists' doorstep (or cave opening).

Thanks Cody.

Hi folk

I'm from Spain an a newbie crossfiter (one question, a person who train crossfit is a crossfiTer or crossfiTTer) and I have a little problem. There isn't any crossfit gym in Spain and I don´t know how is a tipical crossfit class, let me explain better...

The people, in a crossfit class, do only WOD, play gymnastic (muscle-up, handstand push up) technicle (or progression) weightlift technique, after or before WOD?

I've many question, but these are the most urgent for me

Thanks in advance and sorry for me limited english

Hmm, I suspect something of Gillian. Judging by her positive reputation among the CrossFit community, I suspect significant athletic gain accomplished through equally hard work.

I hope everyone else suspects the same thing and doesn't embarrass themselves by making a false innuendo accusation.

Re: Ivan,

I believe CrossFiTTer is the usual.

As for the structure of CF classes: it varies from gym to gym and person to person, but I believe the most usual structure to be:

1) Warm-up
2) Technique Practice (either gymnastics or weightlifting)
3) WOD
4) Some form of cool-down and/or stretching.

With each section usually lasting ~15 minutes.

The reasoning behind doing technical work before the WOD is that you usually don't feel up to doing muscle-ups or handstands after it!

However, I don't see why you couldn't throw in days where you spend the entire session practising gymnastics or weightlifting from time to time.

Hope that helps.

#50 Darije

The British in Northern Ireland is one place to look. Some (much?) of the British response was rather clumsy...extended detentions and the like. The US has adopted much of that approach, unfortunately. Ultimately, resolution was brokered.

Italy vs. the Red Brigades is, in many ways, a more impressive and applicable example. The Brigata Rossa was a remarkably disciplined cell structure that was penetrated over the course of many years. No program is flawless, but the approach was right.

"Infiltration".

It will take a long time.

All, I have been off of Crossfit for about two months...herniated disk in the back followed by knee injury followed by tennis elbow. Any good suggestions on how to do pull ups with a tennis elbow injury. I sure would like to get back on Crossfit but these injuries make me feel way beyond 33!!! Thanks in advance.

#63 Great advice for Ivan. That helped me with what I am doing for Crossfit as well, and my Martial art program I call Core Defense. I have been appraoching the Core defense like that for a while. But now you helped me corner in the Crossfit for me. I just have to change up what lifts/gymnastics I choose to work on on those days. It also allows me to use the lifts and gymnastics approach on rest days with no wieght for technique. I think that could help balance out what I am feeling in the results as well. My times might change from time to time with the technique part. I wantto keep my warm up the same, and gear my technique work toward lifts mainly. Any advice on what to gear with is great. As well, I see that this page does a 3 day on one day off which is great. I see another site that tries to go 6 days with sunday being a rest day always and one random day during the week as another rest day. What are the thoughts on that?

Also, my Core Defense program is geared like this.

Monday Wednesday and Friday are
1. Warm Up
2. Technique training students go as follows
Monday-Stand up
Wednesday-Gappling
Friday-Stick/knife work
3. 2 Conditioning/application drills
4. cool down stretch
Tuesday/thursday is
1. Warm Up
2. Timing and/or free spar
3. situation spar(follow up to the prior sparring sessions
4. Rapid assault drills

I think this is effective for that and have seen great results with students. Any takers on opinions related to a schedule change for CD. Of course the CF WOD is another function that when and if I am blessed to open a Gym/School then I will have scheduling for the CF morning/Mid-day and CD more evening time.

#65 If you use a nuetral grip for pull ups it will take the stress off your elbows. I went through that for a while and leaned that the nuetral grip and over hand grip create less stress on the elbows. Give it a try and see.

Coach,

I was thinking that there should be a workout named after Rick Rescorla. What do you think? You probably know of him, but here's a good starting point:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rescorla

Joe

2:08 fran by rhabdo was pretty impressive, but after watching Josk kick King Kong's ass for the 5th time, has made me really focus on olympic lifts, core training...

as for the doubts of what Gillian might be doing other then protein shakes is absurd. shawn johnson of the womans olympic gymnast team has a high pitched voice just like Gillian, which by the way was once a gymnast. First it's my brother n law Jeremy you clowns question and now Gillian. give it a break.

I have read similar articles highlighting the foibles of the TSA in the past and they never fail to make me cry. These, like a great many things in life in the USA, are far more about the ILLUSION of safety, rather than actual safety. One thing they do do, though, is give the stupid terrorist second thought before going through with their idiotic idea. So perhaps there is some value there? Maybe not $7 billion, worth, but some?

As for the prevention of future attacks, well I don't think that is possible. But I believe one of the main drivers for these groups is that they prey on disaffected people, ususally young people, that see no better future. They see no money, no prospects for a better future and then some d-bag gets his hooks in them and plays on that like a pimp on the new girl off the bus.

The petro-state (or narco-state)is what it is, I guess. That money does not filter down through society in any meaningful way. It does not create widespread prosperity and contentment and that feeds the terrorist machine.

Give these people jobs, give them futures, give them something to lose (here on this earth, not some nebulous religious bs) and you may start to improve the situation. At the very least, you start to build a society where the other people start to not tacitly support the efforts, because they have the jobs, future, etc. I call it the fat, dumb and happy model.

The ones that still reject the prosperity and stability and insist on perpetuating the terrorism are the ones that need good, solid killin'. The problem with the liberal wimps is that they are not willing to apply effective, ruthless force even then. They scare the bejesus outta me because they don't have the good sense to even fight for their own lives. They would be led to the slaughter like lambs. Depressing.

Resting today!!!

I have my first Olympic lifting Competition on Saturday!!!!

Can't wait!

Kip Hawley Responds to My Airport Security Antics
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/10/kip_hawley_resp.html

#14

You really didnt say that, c'mon.

The war was going like hell 2003-2007, clearly underpaid servicemembers were to blame - according to your logic? 9-11 occurred because CIA and FBI agents certainly are not paid well enough?

Obviously, had Bill Clinton and the Democratic Congress of the last two years funded TSA, there would be no way to target Americans so easily at airports.

CF = McCain Palin '08

I don't have sound on my comp, but you are saying she has a high pitched voice and your worried about steroid use? Obviously someone knows nothing about steroid use and women. Steroid use in women deeps the voice pitch, and women began to develop manly features. High pitched voices, to an extent, is actually a desirable trait; and there was a study done that during menstration the pitch of a women's voice increases because its a subconscious attractor for men.

P.S.
This thing seriously needs spell check, I have no idea if what I spelled was correct :(

Coach Burgener is sooo awesome!!!

Gillian you are an inspiration! Hope to see you more.. lets get together!

"This is a land of freedom of speech."

Keith Olbermann (yes, that Keith Olbermann), the bastion of left-wing propaganda, actually sums this up quite well on this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqUnWryxlt0

The real discussion begins at around 2:20 or so, but the whole video is sickening.

Just wait until Obama is in the office and the Fairness Doctrine is resurrected. Then ask about your 1st Amendment rights.

Come to think about it, your 2nd Amendment rights are also going down the crapper with Obama, the Socialist/Communist Dictator.

Biden has received an "F" from the NRA, or, in the NRA's words, "a true enemy of gun owner's rights" and "a vehement anti-gun candidate who always opposes gun owner's rights and/or actively leads anti-gun legislative efforts, or sponsors anti-gun legislation."

Obama, on the other hand, would be the "most anti-gun president in American history."

#52: Really you proved the oppostie point you thought you did: Terrorists are an insignificant threat. Sure they can do some damage, and I'm not saying ignore it, but their ability to do damage is very limited, so lets not overblow our reaction and lose freedom in the exchange.

Darije #50: Your likening the situation to the British Government dealing with the IRA is very accurate. I highly recommend you read this article http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200604/ira-spy

CFOGC hit the nail on the head. We live in a world where information is king. We have some of the best trained military operators in the world (perhaps in the history of the world,) but without the information to guide them, the level of effectiveness at which they can operate is greatly, greatly lessened. Our efforts should be directed into training highly motivated individuals in the cultures, languages, customs, economies, and criminal infrastructures of the regions which we know harbor terrorists. It is also of vital importance that we understand regions which have not yet directly attacked the U.S., but clearly present a future threat.

Right now we don't speak the language, know the people, or have access to the social networks. Without these things, we're just wasting ammunition.

What strikes me as odd is that almost all my friends, all liberal democrats, recognize the inefficiencies and asinine service of government agencies (TSA, USPS, DMV, etc), but never reflect on this record of performance to opine about the utopia of future governmental endeavors(health care, financial regulation, sub-prime lending, social security, etc). This, I believe, is a major reason why the government is able to seep into all crevasses of our society and in turn, slowly but surely, limit our free society.

#75

If you can recall back in 2002, there was a twenty-three day affair of the "DC Sniper attacks". These two guys were shooting people at random over this period in the Washington, D.C. area.

During this time, these "insignificant" attacks were able to modify the behavior of many in the area. People would stay indoors. If they had to go for gas, they would move quickly to make themselves harder to hit. Attempting to say that terrorists are insignificant is to analyze their attacks from only a tactical standpoint.

From a tactical standpoint, a terrorist blowing up a building- that only affects the people of that building. The building is destroyed, and people inside.

If you go beyond that, you reach the ultimate goal of terrorism, not to destroy anything, but to use that destruction to convey a message. That message is there to promote fear. It is not insignificant.

cfog:
From my perspective the most effective measure would be a combination of our ideas: reduce their recruitment potential while also destroying the serpent's head, so to speak. I think the difficult part would be to accomplish part two without compromising part one.

InfidelSix and Alex Europa:
History, both recent and more distant, is very much more a part of people's lives, upbringing and conscious awareness in the middle east and other parts of the world than it is here in America. One of the beautiful things about America is the chance to start fresh, the American Dream to make something new of yourself. But I see that this also has a negative side, an amnesia of sorts in our general consciousness and how we think about world and local events. Not so in the middle east. They are raised with stories of these events, raised in the places they actually happened, all this so that it becomes a part of who they are.
Also, they are often harkening to much more recent, tangible events than the French and Indian war. Over the last half century it is their brothers, their sisters, their parents, their grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends, etc that have been killed or seen others killed, had their cities and ways of living dismantled. The man who sees his sister killed in an American air strike doesn't care who we were aiming for, or what we were retaliating for, he just knows that his sister was killed by Americans.

Ronald Reagan says in his memoir, referring to his actions in Lebanon, that as Americans we should stay out of the middle east because we just don't understand how they think.

You both point out that my viewpoints are idealistic or unreasonable. It's clear to me we only have control over our own actions and that the removal of an entire religion is far more unrealistic. And if we really tried to remove that religion it is obvious we'd only cause more resentment and hardening of views, further exacerbating the problem. In addition, a move away from oil will be forced upon us in the not too distant future one way or another as supplies dry up, so we can either plan for that now and accomplish a couple goals at the same time, or run head long off the cliff without reading the writing on the wall.

I6: There are plenty of moderate Muslims in the world, and moderate countries with predominantly Muslim populations, albeit probably a shrinking number of them. It seems to be that extremism is spreading through the invocation of real and perceived grievances against outside nations and their dominance, both military as well as economic in many instances. Someone with a full stomach and gainful employment doesn't generally blow themselves up.

Throughout the course of history religions of all sorts have been used to justify violence, warfare and hatred. In this way Islam is not unique. Again, suggesting that the solution is to somehow remove an entire religion is both unrealistic and does the same disservice to the discussion that you claim is done by leftists who refuse to face hard truths. We must face our own contributions to the problem and change the way we behave, if we do not we will find that people continually desire to do us harm, Islamic or not.

Alex Europa: Extremists are the problem here, on both sides. What needs to be created is an environment where extremists can not thrive. One of reasonable economic success in all of these regions, and one more free of so many egregious actions on our part as viewed from their perspective. Also, the bible has many passages that are probably equally antiquated and ignored as a part of a different time in history by most reasonable individuals. Neither the Quran nor the Bible, I believe, are to be taken as literal truth, but instead as stories written by men, to be seen as guides and mediums of transmission of ideas of peace and worship for a supreme being. Deuteronomies is full of passages that, if taken seriously in modern times lead to a complicated, confusing existence.

It seems much easier to create an environment where extremists don't thrive than to attempt to wipe an entire religion off the planet.

hoping for a strength day tomorrow

Darije #50 and others:

The British response to the IRA is NOT analagous to the present threat from terrorists acting in the name of Islam. Similar to the Red Army in Italy the Northern Ireland problem was small, well-contained, and had well-delineated grievances and desired outcomes on the part of the IRA (the Red Army situation is analagous to Northern Ireland in that it was small, regional). Unlike the Islamic terrorists the IRA most often took pains to alert civilians when action was to take place that was not specifically targeted at military targets (not always, I'm aware). Also unlike the Islamic terrorists it became clear that the IRA was fundamentally seeking a resolution to the issues at hand; hence, negotiation was possible and a target for success was identifiable.

Contrast this with the wanton killing of civilians, even on the ground in the native countries of the terrorists. Contrast this with the absolute absence of meaningful response from the Islamic terrorists to statecraft. Contrast this with the stated goal of Islamic hegemony in all of the known Islamic world (and while we're at it, can you imagine the bloodshed if there is Islamic hegemony and now they get to battle about WHOSE hegemony is to be the one and only...), a rather unattainable endpoint whose very existence on the table renders all meaningful statecraft moot.

No, this is truly different from Northern Ireland and Italy.

Comment#8 and #10:
Sometimes the gym gets really hot
I sweat and feel uncomfortable
Crossfit is supposed to be tough
in all conditions and situations
It wasn't too cold yesterday for farmers,
police officers,firefighters or anyone else who has to put in out there for our comfort.
So shut it up and run

#75 Henry Miller

You are clearly underestimating the damage caused by systems disruption. By targeting critical infrastructures and markets these groups can generate a massive rate of return on their investments, be they monetary or in the form of lives given. Imagine the chaos caused by knocking out major power grids in Washington D.C., or creating a halt in the public transportation of New York City.

If you don't think these are significant concerns, I think you are most likely lacking an understanding of the economically and culturally integrated world we live in. If this is the case, I recommend "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman. If you understanding of globalization is sufficient, and the problem lies in your lack of knowledge of the vulnerabilities of critical infrastructures and how they can be exploited by small groups to massive damage, you should read "Brave New War" by John Robb.

Either way, your belief that terrorism poses an insignificant threat makes it clear to me that you are lacking information and/or understanding somewhere between globalization and individual superempowerment, and the abilities of smart, angry, motivated men to bring the most powerful nation in the history of the world to it's knees.

Or was 9/11 not "significant" enough for you?

Bingo #81

Though the situations are certainly not identical, I do not believe that they are nearly as dissimilar as you think. We are dealing with a decentralized network of highly motivated individuals, just as the IRA was. My point is not that the IRA and al Qaeda are the same, but that we can learn lessons from the British governments infiltration of the IRA. These organizations are based on trust; without it they will crumble. The IRA was so thoroughly penetrated by British agents that it could no longer stand. Likewise, sowing dissent and distrust in the upper echelons of groups like al Qaeda will be seriously debilitating, at least for a time.

That is funny that one poster said that our military doesn't have the proper training in the areas we fight, or so it seemed he said we don't know the language, culture or other important factors. In the Marine Corps and other Military branches, we have operational culture, language and social courses constantly. Especially for those going over. For those in deeper operations we have more in depth classes for them. We also have extra paid translators and language teachers for our military as well. We work constantly to adapt, improvise and over come. We win our countries battles because of that. Always have, and until that fighting spirit dies, always will find a way to win and defeat our enemies battle by battle. We cannot win a war against terrorism or extremists, all we can do is keep it at bay as much as possible. Further, terrorism has a big impact, much bigger than some give credit for. It may not in it's self bring everything down, but it distracts focus and plugs away at the government and civilian fear and debate. It is effective for them when we focus so much that even if another country takes advantage of our distractions and fear, terroism is winning thta battle. Our role in the military is much more tasked than some see. We not only have to worry about the terrorist, but the world as a whole which has any one power trying to take advantage at any given time. Now that goes further than any debate could try to narrow down to a simple solution.

5k Trail Run (mostly uphill) =29:00

To Ian-It's sad you feel the need to post negative comments in order to overcome your own shortcomings.

Can anyone give me some advice/pointers on Vibram FiveFingers? I just ordered my first pair. Also, any tips for double unders, can't seem to get it?

Ran 7k, no time, with some roadwork (cindy rounds, box jumps) watched the vid.

#85 Cody Lee Johnson

Though the military certainly makes efforts at training soldiers in language, culture, etc, it's successes vary tremendously, and it is still not treated with the importance it should be. I was born and raised in Monterey, California, which you may know is home to the Defense Language Institute, the military's primary language center, and the Naval Postgraduate School. My mother used to teach at the DLI, and my dad has been a professor at NPS for two decades.

The DLI expects it's soldiers to learn Arabic in 63 weeks. 63 weeks for an immensely complex and varied language, with hundreds of dialects? I am a fluent Russian speaker, and can tell you first hand that the students who come out of that program (which was, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the largest program there,) are substandard. This holds true for most languages taught there.

While the Naval Postgraduate School courses, such as the Defense Analysis course that many SOF groups go through, are good, they still place their emphasis too much on what's going on "in the moment." This is important, but as important as what's going on 15 years from now. We are still pursuing a retroactive approach to combating terrorism, and that is where we fail.

Though the attempt to focus on these areas is existent, it is not a priority, as exhibited through the lack of successful implementation in gaining information access on the networks which we are facing.

On a semi-related note, thank you for your service.

#90

You make good points, however, war and terroism don't take a bakc seat to our need in the fight with the time allowed. I never said what we do is adequate enough for a perfected senerio. However, once again, we continue to be successful in battle with what we have and continue to strive toward better training. Your language issue doesn't fire the rounds we fire, or devise the battle plans for our small to large units. It doesn't accomplish the missions of defensive tactics. As I said, our intel and recon do all they can, and even though you feel it needs more, I am sure they do too. All said, we win because we go with what we have in the time we need it. That is what makes us successful, we don't sit there complaining about what we do or don't have when it comes to it. Maybe in the future as we have done in other areas, we ill improve. Until then, as in generations, war evloves and tactics, ideals and cultures change, so do we the forefront of our countries battles. I agree there is alot of areas we should do this or should do that. Point is, never will be what we want except for one thing that I instill into the recruits I train on Parris Island. Honor, Courage and Commitment. Values no technical school can bring to the table. That common ground, belief and faith in our families, Our God(or whatever in the FREE nation one chooses to believe, and aur very way of life is what is successful out there. We always fall back to what we know the most, the success of that is how strong we believe in what we do, not just the knowledge, no language skill can ever teach those things, We didn't need it in Germany, Japan, Korea, vietnam or any other battle front. Those things are aides for us and help us when and where we need it. The battle, the fight those things are common language, no classes but traing, train and train can even come close to preparing us for that, and even then the only success is in the true moment, the true danger, not a classroom filled with a language that holds no place in communicating with my fellow man during a firefight.

#91 Cody Lee Johnson

At no point did I argue that defensive tactics, combat training, etc, nor any of the values you stated, are not important. But your point that we "didn't need language in Germany, Japan, Korea, or Vietnam" is virtually moot. In the first three, we were fighting an entirely different fight - a nation state, not a network of small groups and individuals who are not tied to any country or government, as we are fighting in al Qaeda. And surely you don't claim that we were successful in Vietnam? Our lack of information access was our consistent and constant downfall against the VC. Had we been privy to the information we could have gained by speaking the language and being part of the human networks of the regions in which we were operating, we would have been far more successful in our attempts to neutralize the threats we were facing there.

I appoligize for the miss understanding. In no way do I disagree with you. Also my statment was about the battle front, not the intel that aides us in the areas we need it. I suppose I say to you that all of us here and even those who over see our language training and culture training see what you see as well. In that fact all I mean to say is. Until we have that focus rest assured that we keep the peace pretty well. I think after every major battle and war that we always see what we could have had or could have done better. I agree with you on that topic, and many others that we see internally as well. It was not a debate to the needs of better training, just a focus on how we have to deal wit hwhat we are delt. I not ignorant to the fact we are dealing with a totally different enemy, one that will continue long after you and I are both gone. It's frustrating to me as I am sure all americans who grew up in the 80's to know no matter what we will never have the safe feeling we once had. I hate to say, it will get much worse before it is over. Once we feel we have their ways down pact, which I cannot say we ever will, then a new enemy will be at our call to fight. If we don't get this economy under control and soon, we are open game for more than we realize. Of course, we were not successful in vietnam, but that wasn't the men who fought there, that was a horrible government who allowed things to happen too long and pulled out too late. That was surely a place we did not belong. That's how frustrating it is on our side. To fight a fight and be told it's for reasons that really are there to mask the real reason. But, once we are put in it, we have to see it through. You are so right about the understanding of language though. As a country we are ignorant to not stress learning other languages, however, just about every other country learns english to deal with us in trading and I am sure ways to get to us. The bad part about the Middle East is that Ronald Reagan was right, we have no place there, those people have a belief system that we try to understand and try to show them our way is better. It's a dangerous hot spot. Iraq already once a deadline for us to leave, that means it's a matter of time before it really gets worse. Thank you for looking at the things they don't prepare us for, or lack in preparing us properly. I hope that we can make it through all of this, and one day I cna be crossfitting right along side some of you with a smile of relief.

#26 Bob,
Loved your version of the dirty dozen. #9- "killed 1 muslim" and #11 "dreamed about palin for 100 minutes" are hilarious. Not sure if everyone else caught them. I look forward to hearing about your next workout.

#93 Cody Lee Johnson

Ah, I see. I misunderstood. Yes, of course the military does everything they can - it's not down to the men and women on the front lines to control how they are trained. They are given what they are given and do the best of it. For the most part they do quite a good job. I am simply concerned that in the face of this more agile, more motivated enemy, we (that is, the U.S. Government) are not doing nearly enough to prepare our operators to do what needs to be done. Your point that we do not understand their belief system is vital. We are facing an enemy who won't stop at death. Most Americans can't comprehend this idea, and that is what makes it so hard for us to change the way we fight.

About the article, very true and the term "Security Theater" describes perfectly what goes on at airports in the United States. If you want a good tutorial on how to have good security at an airport, go to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. They are the best airport security force in the world. The major difference between what we do in the US and what they do in Israel is profiling. Look odd, or fit the terrorist profile and your separated immediately. Leave a bag unattended and its removed, by a bomb squad.

Food for Thought

Have Fun, Think Hard,

Billy

m/29/5'9"/169

Hit Tuesday's WOD (081021) today, a real lung burner!

12x Burpees
12x Pull-Ups

10 rounds for time.

As Rx'd 16:51

Headed to Dallas this weekend for level 1 cert. Any advice? Thanks in advance.

#98 Lee: Have Fun.

I took a rest day yesterday, so I did the 5k today.

5k run - 24:29

M/21/159

Informative article on the basket stackers. But everyone should know that more is going on than just TSA.

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12465303

Ne cede malis! Hold fast!

Front squats
195 x 3
215 x 3
230 x 3
240 x 2 (pr)

5 rounds
200 m
20# Med ball clean and throw, 75M
5 Thruster, 155#

18:30

M/23/6'1"/180

"GargantuFRAN"
Thrusters @ 225#
Pullups +135#
9-6-3

5:34
That was really hard. It's time to start getting ready to qualify for the games

JollyGreenGardener - great posts.

Today I read:

"Mr Khan [Imran Khan, a prominent, British-educated moderate Pakistani politician] claimed that the US-led "war on terror" had led to "approximately one million" men taking up arms in the tribal areas [of Pakistan]. "The total al-Qa'ida who were supposed to be in Pakistan were 800 to 1,200 people. This is the biggest gift of George Bush to al-Qa'ida, what he's done there," said Mr Khan. "It's like a factory of terror, it's producing terrorists, radicalising our society, pushing those people who had nothing to do with al-Qa'ida or Taliban into the arms of militancy and opposing the Americans and the Pakistan army," he said."

Terrorists are not born, they are made. That truth is the key to understanding this latest terrorist threat and defusing it. Acting on THIS intel - which we have had for a long time - is not a job for those who want quick success. We need leaders less concerned with the next election and more concerned with the next generation.

We have people in power and influence stuck in a "paleo-war" mindset, when asymmetric warfare - like terrorist attacks on airports - makes a mockery of illusory security checks. The author of today's article was totally correct. It's theatre.

There are many strands to the work required to defeating the ideologies of hate. Those which will reap lasting rewards require that we stop demonising entire religions and regions. It requires us to stop believing as an article of faith, that the other is somehow innately less decent than self; is somehow beyond redemption. Yes, there are extremists, but they breathe the oxygen of support from a greater body of less extreme, but disaffected populations. Understanding this and taking serious steps to tackle it, is about the best security measure I can imagine right now.

Peace.

Crossfit warmup 3x15
17:03

M/48/153/1-1-06

Crossfit Strength Experiment

Buy-in: Max PU
26 (PR)

WOD: AMRAP 12 min.
5 Deadlift 105#
5 Hang Power Clean 105#
5 Front Squat 105#
5 Push Press 105# (round 1 unbroken, 105x5 PR)
5 Back Squat 105#

4 rounds + 5 DL + 2 HPC

Cash-out
50 sit-ups (unanchored)
25 Toes to Bar
15 KTE

#103
pretty stout workout!

Cody Lee Johnson #64,

Technique work for lifts: I'm no expert, but the way I did it was by starting with the basic lifts (deadlift, back squat, shoulder press) and perfecting them (did them for ~2 months, both weightless technical work and heavy days) before starting to practice the higher tier movements (front squat, overhead squat, push press, medicine ball clean). Again, I did those movements for 2 months, whilst still doing the first set of movements on some max effort days. Then I repeated the process again, but with the clean, C&J, snatch, and push jerk. Movements which are usually reserved for metcons or are ancillary exercises (thrusters, weighted pull-ups and dips etc) I filtered into normal training when appropriate. I train by myself usually, but I did make sure I got taught all the lifts at an affiliate, and at the end of every 2 month period went back to make sure I was still doing the lifts correctly. Hope that's what you're looking for.

Training days/cycles: 3-on/1-off results in an extra day's training every 4 weeks over a 5-on/2-off program, so is slightly more beneficial in that sense; but may not gel well with the rest of your life.

[[ Additional: Currently, I am experimenting with a 6-on/1-off program for three weeks followed by a tapering week every fourth week; it leaves me sore and hurting, but my performances in training don't seem to be affected by that; however it did involve a lot of planning to ensure my body was stressed in different ways throughout the course of the week. It may also have something to do that, because of my sport, six-day weeks have been the norm for the past three years, so I've gotten somewhat used to doing lots of very short high-intensity sessions. Until I get some clear benefit from doing such a training cycle, I'd still recommend 3/1 or 5/2. ]]

Of the two, I don't see any massive difference in training benefit, so unless you're *really* pushing for whatever slight edge you can get, you should probably go for whatever feels comfiest.

The structure of your Core Defence sessions: Seems fine to me, and if you're getting "great results with students", that's what really counts, isn't it? Tweak around with anything your unsure about, but it sounds like you're doing a very good job of it so far.

Something I've found you may wish to bear in mind: it is difficult to do two very good, very hard sets of the same types (conditioning or strength/speed/power sets) in a day; but perfectly possible to do one of each, and significantly easier to conditioning first and s/s/p later; so circuits in the morning, and weights, sprints and anaerobic intervals in the evening seems to be good.

Like I said, I'm not the most knowledgeable guy in the world about these things, so take what I say with a pinch of salt; but I hope you can find something of use there.

Add.:

I say comfiest in the loosest possible sense of the term.

I did the 5k on rest day as I didn't actually push myself to complete it on 5k day. I dont' know what's been going on with me. Since I took that cycle off for being stuck in my rack drugged up on Percoset I haven't been able to push myself to finish a WOD. I didn't even finish the 5k, which is sad. I think the running might have something to do with the fact that I'm cooped up in a room with no ventilation staring at the same white wall while I run. I guarantee my running will get better once I'm able to run outside again. As for other workouts though, i don't know, I think it's because I feel like poo still. I'll be all motivated to go do my workout all day and once I get in the middle of the actual WOD I just crash and don't complete it. It's all mental, definitely not physical at all. Any suggestions on getting out of the rut? Maybe it would be better if I had a workout partner. It's too easy to give up mid workout when you're the only one who knows about it.

Cory, can your dad walk quickly? Can he row? Can he sort of squat? If you answered yes then you've got yourself a candidate for CrossFit. There are about 1000 other things he can do if he can't run or squat. Bring him aboard!

This is me being way behind

Monday - Cindy, as Rx, 18 rounds, +5 pull, +7 push (PR)

Tuesday - Team in Training meeting, *gulp*

Wednesday - Filthy Fifty; subs, 10# med ball (all they had), tuck jumps for double unders: 28:51 (PR)

Today - 95# 5x Thruster, 7x Hang power clean, 10x Sumo high pull, 20 min: 5 rounds, +2 thrusters OUCH!

Thanks and Gig'em.

bwt:198

skipped yesterday, did today

1000m row
20 handstand push up
1000m row
15 handstand push up
1000m row
10 handstand push up
1000m row

bout 20 minutes
i hate handstand push ups but im workin on them

Being a former Federal Air Marshal I couldn't wait to read the article....

With that being said, I would agree with 99.9% of many of the comments already posted on this site. Believe me, there is nothing more frustrating that having a TSA Screener blow my cover in front of 200 people waiting in the security line at JFK. Remember, they were private screeners prior to 9/11 and to retain their position all they had to do was take and pass a rudimentary test in order to become Federal Workers.

I will not try to defend them (I'll let the Screeners take care of themselves) but to all those who whine about having to take your shoes off or who are referred to secondary: Please describe a terrorist, a potential terrorist, a would-be bomber or even your bargain-basement criminal to me. By that I mean, give me a physical description, a definitive manner of action that we can clue in on, a facial tic...anything. In other words, in 2003 a white male aged 85 was referred to secondary in Philadelphia and was found to have 7 knives taped to his body. I know, I know, what can an 85 year old man do right? Well, I don't know about you but I've seen plenty of pale-skinned wacko's (Google Shamil Basayev) who would love nothing more than to cut the head off of an infidel or to blow up a plane.

Just my two cents but from somebody who was on the inside (not sure if it was the right side or not...) they are mildly effective at best. Maybe we should just all fly naked or all be armed....

#108 Thank you for your input. It is greatly appreciated. I agree with it being up to whatever is most effective. The comfiest part is a bit of a laugh considering our sick nature of crossfit. That brought a good smile to my day. Again Thank you for some of your guidance.

Semper Fidelis and God Bless

#81 bingo
always enjoy your posts my friend but you are way off in your description of the IRA who murdered countless innocent civilians both deliberately and 'by accident, whoops'
Scum ,every single one of them.

War on Terrorism! What a joke. There is no war on terrorism and if there is I hope it is going better than our "War on Drugs"! How long have we been fighting that one. How many people follow the Islamic faith? About 1 billion and 20% of those are of Arabic descent. So how are you going to tell who the bad apples are?

Oh and it is real difficult to stop the "terrorist" when they are already in the country. 911 was not done the way it was sold. More research needs to be done as to the events of that day by a great number of people.

I say just keep Xfitting and prepare for the worst.

Could be, Gibbo, could be. But I remember countless news articles about bombs going off in Dublin with a warning call prior, destroying property with no fatalities. Terrorism, to be sure, and with the desired effect on the populace. I don't recall ever reading about such a thing from Hezbollah, Al Qaida, etc.

My post was certainly not to imply that the armed wing of the IRA was any less a terrorist organization, only that the analogy between Northern Ireland and the present conflicts is not apt.

Bingo -

You are definitely correct that Al Qaeda is a very different terrorist organization than the IRA or the Red Brigades (Italy). Al Qaeda tactics more closely mirror those of neo-fascist terrorist groups in Italy (who infamously bombed the train station in Bologna).

And of course, there are differences from them, too. For instance, suicide bombing wasn't a tactic employed by NAR, nor did their actions span borders.

I would argue that we should be students of these histories, nonetheless, because there are parallels - eg, the remarkable cell structure of the Red Brigade seems to be employed in some ways by Al Qaeda - and those parallels might inform a government (or hopefully governments, plural) approach to the threat.

m/35/6'9"/228
4 rounds for time
400m row
20 ball slams
25 box jumps - 12"
30 situps

29:42

Can anyone tell me how to access this month's CF journal? I understand it is in the new format. I joined via credit card last month and had access, then was away from the net and email. Haven't heard how the new format works or where to look. Any help would be great.

Cheers,
Tates

JGG,

I wasn't insinuating that we should (or could) get rid of Islam, that's antithetical to everything America stands for. I was merely pointing out that, for extremists, the basis for their actions is deeply embedded in their religion, regardless of what Western society does (or doesn't do). Yes, our actions do bring more people to the fight, but what would be the result of no action?

As for the comment regarding the Bible and Quran having similarities, you're right. However, there is one key difference: the concept that newer scriptures supercede previous ones (i.e.: in Christianity, the New Testament supercedes the Old Testament). In the Quran, there is a clear shift in the message from peaceful to violent (which happened to coincide with Mohammad's exile to Medina). Thus, the most applicable (again, in theory) scriptures in the Quran are those similar to the ones I quoted above.

Your argument that creating an economic solution to the problem doesn't sit well with me when so many extraordinarily rich people continue to fund terrorism. I can understand your thought that someone with a full stomach and happy life won't go blow themself up, but you'll never eliminate poverty, ESPECIALLY in the Middle East. Therefore, you'll always have poor, illiterate people that can be swayed by pursuasive religiious leaders.
And yes, extremists do LITERALLY believe in the words of the Quran, I've experienced it first hand.

I´m from Sweden and visited the US 3 years ago. That security KILLED me... man it took FOREVER to get through; long lines, I think I showed my passport 7 or 8 times (and that green slip of paper) from the entrance til I was on the plane. (Same on the trip back)
BUT they did not check the luggage very closly, which I thought was wierd.

And what about those STUPID questions they give to you on the plane from another country on the way to US? Example: "Are you a member of Al-Quida?" "are you a member of the former nazi-government of Germany?" "Are you an expert in explosives, nuclear weapons etc..?" Do you intend to kill the president...???? Like 50 of those STUPID questions!
What are the chanses that an actual criminal answers "yes" to any of those??

I hope you americans decide to do something better with your hard-earned tax money. (I had a very good time though in the US. I hope you dont kill the tourism by extending this security even further)

P.S. "security level" in Sweden has increased also last couple of years, which has done excellent job of delaying take-offs and total travel-time and making flying more expensive.

#121 Tates,

Go to http://journal.crossfit.com/ and click the Login button at the top right hand portion of the screen. Your login information will be what you supplied when you subscribed.

Hope this helps!

Bingo #118 and Gibbo #116 - the IRA sometimes gave adequate warnings and sometimes didn't. It was a cynical, ugly lottery. (Bingo - the IRA never bombed Dublin - but I think that was just a slip on your part given that it's all fading in our collective memories.)

Gibbo, you refer to the IRA as "scum". Not to seize unfairly on just one remark, but whilst it might be an understandable reaction, it contributes to a corrosive de-humanization that is present in many conflicts - including the current WOT. It's counter-productive for us to engage in that.

Terrorists need a support base to survive. How do you win over the main body of any given region to erode that support base? Hearts and minds. The SAS tumbled to this in Oman. You treat people fairly. You target the extremists but you uphold a very high standard of decency. You don't intern without trial, strip-search, discriminate, blockade, humiliate, extraordinarily render... Crucially, we need the humility to recognise that despite our absolute hatred and unqualified condemnation of the actions of terrorists, were we put in different circumstances and sorely tested as many of them have been, we might just as easily have ended up as a 19 year-old angry young man in Lebanon, Belfast or Chechnya, swayed to thinking that violence was the only solution to the problems faced by our communities.

That acknowledgment doesn't mean we go weak. It doesn't mean we don't fight terrorism literally, fiercely, now. But it might make it possible to imagine longer-term solutions which right now seem beyond us all.

Peace.

Belfast...mea culpa.

JGG, Alex

I absolutely concur with Alex's last post. You mis-read if you thought I was recommending or thought it reasonable/possible to remove a religion - it isn't.

One of the big problems is that the religion has no hierarchy and different groups act as independent organizations that declare war or jihad. Therefore, whatever we do, someone is going to be upset. If we make a deal to Liberate Kuwait - forming a massive coalition including nearly every Arab state, people are upset. If we support the only democratic state in the ME (Israel), people are upset. If we do business (buy oil), people are upset. I we support Afghanistan against a Soviet invasion ... well maybe they like us ... and that comes back to bite us. So either we build a wall around these people (based mostly on their backward religious affiliation) and never deal with them again, or we try to make moral choices that promote our interests and don't worry so much about the people who don't like it.

A perfect example of this: one of OBL's reasons for the 9/11 attack was "Crusaders military presence on muslim land" - meaning U.S. military in Saudi. Of course, we're there under the approval of the Saudi gov't. AFAIC, we're legitimate. OBL is a whacko who wants to overthrow the Saudi gov't as well as having declared war on the U.S. somewhere around 6-8 seperate times. Would we change U.S. foreign policy for someone without any authority? Of course not. This is arbitrary. Someone will always have a problem with something we're doing or not doing.

A second reason stated for the attack on 9/11 was support of Israel - something that has nothing to do w/ OBL as a Saudi citizen or with Afghanistan. Some random narco-trafficker cartel could, by the same reasoning, attack us for supporting the gov't of Mexico.

We cannot stay out of the Middle East in this day and age without severing trade and international relations. Maintaining these in any practical way exposes us to any number of greivances and grudges. Do we give up choosing or maintaining any type of position because we're afraid of the reprecussions of not "staying out of it"?

Placating thugs and terrorists encourages them. Right now, in Iraq, they know a few things about us: we're good at what we do, they can't stand toe-to-toe with us, and we don't give up. When the "paper tiger" tag is proven true and sticks, they become emboldened. We have the stick and the carrot. I think we have to know when to use either/both. Do we help AQ recruiting when we do this? Maybe so, but if left unchecked, they will continue to expand their control until they meet their goal: establish the caliphate, convert everyone. IMO it is better to challenge them at every opportunity. Then they will know: This we will defend.

We need a war on tsunamis and hurricanes before a war on terror. We've killed far more people in our crusade than they, and it doesn't even come close to what can happen during an earthquake.

We like the idea of fighting the war on terror because it's something we feel we can control.

We can't control mother nature, therefore it scares us and we turn a blinds eye to its devastating and unavoidable affects (for the most part and for most people).

Let's gain a little perspective on the situation.

We just like to do something, rather than nothing, I suppose.

If the security of the people was left up to the companies instead of the government would it be better? Would it keep people from flying?

As always, there are more questions than answers in my post.

rads

"always be better than yesterday"

#26 - Bob - I tried to do your workout as rx'd, but I was only good for about 2 minutes on the palin repetition. I'll have to try again tonight.

Here ya go chumps:

The Case Against CrossFit

A closer look at this controversial workout program

by Charles Poliquin

"The best program is the one you're not using," is one of my favorite axioms. I say this because I've never believed that there is one perfect workout system. The high-intensity training methods of the late Arthur Jones work...for a time. Strongman training works...for at time. And weightlifting and powerlifting methods work...for a time. Variety, whether it be correcting a lack of it or too much of it, is one of the keys to making continual progress with your training and achieving your goals. And that brings up the topic of CrossFit, Inc. TM.
If you Google the words "Poliquin" and "CrossFit," you'll find that there has been a considerable amount of discussion about my recent comments on another website about this method of training. Although my intent was to make a few general comments about what I thought of this method of training - and throw in a few wisecracks in the process - it's obvious that a more in-depth discussion about CrossFit is in order. So, here it is.

What is CrossFit?
Founded by Greg Glassman nearly three decades ago, CrossFit is a militaristic type of workout that uses a variety of training methods, including gymnastics and Olympic lifting, using short rest intervals. CrossFit is very popular with the military, police forces and mixed martial artists. CrossFit offers certifications, and graduates can pay a fee to become an affiliate. And because the equipment used is relatively inexpensive, it's relatively easy to open a CrossFit gym.

Often with CrossFit you won't perform the same workout twice, and because CrossFit often facetiously uses feminine names to describe their workouts, your training schedule might look like this: Monday, "Fran"; Wednesday, "Grace"; Friday, "Helen." Here are some workouts I've found on a CrossFit website:

Linda
Perform the following circuit using this repetition scheme 10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1 - for time:
A1. Deadlift, 1 1/2 Bodyweight
A2. Bench Press, Bodyweight
A3. Clean, 3/4 Bodyweight

Nancy
Perform five sets of the following superset, for time:
A1. 400 meter run
A2. Overhead squat 95 lbs x 15
Diane
Perform three supersets of the following exercises, for time, performing sets of 21/15/9 reps.
A1. Deadlift 225 lbs
A2. Handstand push-ups

The CrossFit program is controversial. A New York Times article published on December 22, 2005, presented these quotes by Glassman: "It can kill you...I've always been completely honest about that," and "If you find the notion of falling off the rings and breaking your neck so foreign to you, then we don't want you in our ranks." The article also said that a popular axiom among CrossFit practitioners is "I met Pukey," which suggests they have vomited as a result of training so hard. Notes the author of the article, Stephanie Cooperman, "Some even own T-shirts emblazoned with a clown. Pukey. CrossFit's other mascot is Uncle Rhabdo, another clown, whose kidneys have spilled onto the floor presumably due to rhabdomyolsis." Rhabdomyolsis is a serious kidney disease, often associated with excessive exercise.
On the legal side, on October 9, 2008, the Associated Press filed this story:

“MANASSAS, Va. — A former Navy information systems technician has been awarded $300,000 after suing a Manassas gym over an exercise program he says left him permanently disabled.

“Makimba Mimms, 29, of Bristow says the CrossFit workout he did in 2005 caused him to urinate blood and his legs to swell.

“Mimms sued Manassas World Gym, where he did the workout; Ruthless Training Concepts, a CrossFit affiliate at the time; and a Ruthless employee who administered the workout. A Prince William County jury found all three defendants liable Wednesday.”
In the legal complaint, these were the specific breaches of duty (constituting negligence or gross negligence) cited against instructor Javier Lopez:
• He failed to exercise ordinary care.
• He failed to refrain from injuring plaintiff.
• He failed to give plaintiff proper and reasonable instruction.
• He gave plaintiff unreasonable and hazardous instructions, entreating and demanding that plaintiff exert extraordinary effort, not cease to rest, not cease to drink fluids or regain his strength, breath and resilience.
• He failed to refrain from exposing him to extraordinary hazards and actual injury to his person.
• He failed to observe and monitor plaintiff so as to guard and protect him from injury.

In the basic CrossFit certification, which costs $1,000, participants are introduced to numerous workout protocols and exercises, including the Olympic lifts. According to recent comments on a website from an individual who went through the certification, and from information that I viewed on their website, these certifications primarily consist of participating in workouts. There is no written exam to determine if the participants fully understand the material presented. Pay $1,000 and you are certified, and pay $1,000 and you can promote your business as an affiliate. The first CrossFit gym opened in 1995, and I've read where there are now over 600 CrossFit affiliates.

A Cause for Concern
Many individuals love CrossFit, and in fact it has been criticized as having a cultlike following. Many of these individuals believe it is the perfect program that will enable them to achieve their goals and are very satisfied with their progress. And I have no doubt that some individuals have never been injured from CrossFit. That being said, here are six of my major issues with this form of training.

1. Lack of Sufficient Testing Protocols. In looking over detailed notes from a CrossFit certification, I was concerned about the lack of testing for structural balance issues with trainees. There are protocols for beginning, intermediate and advanced workouts using multi-joint movements. But in my work with Olympians in 20 different sports and with numerous professional athletes, before having any athletes perform their first power clean or squat, I recommend a series of structural balance tests to red-flag muscle imbalances that could increase the athlete's risk of injury. And if there is a history of injuries with an athlete, those should be addressed in any workout design.

One reason Olympic shot-putter Adam Nelson could not perform power snatches before I started working with him was that he had adhesions in his rotator cuff muscles - after we addressed this injury with such treatments as Active ReleaseTM, Nelson was able to reintroduce this valuable exercise in his workout and within a month did 286 pounds for three reps. Jim McKenzie, a professional hockey player I've trained, went from a 280-pound close-grip bench press to 380 pounds in less than four months by focusing on corrective exercises - and for the first three months of this program Jim did not perform bench presses!

2. Focus on a Single Training Protocol. In regards to the concept of specificity, the protocols in CrossFit are not appropriate for developing the highest levels of strength or power or speed. It is doubtful that you will see any elite powerlifters, weightlifters or sprinters using CrossFit protocols as their primary method of conditioning. For example, I'm training Sam Baker, an NFL lineman who needed to dramatically increase his strength and muscle mass. Prior to Baker's entering the NFL, where he went as a #1 draft pick, in two months my training protocols enabled him to add 25 pounds of solid muscle, reduce his bodyfat by 8.1 percent, increase his vertical jump by four inches and significantly increase his strength. I didn't accomplish this by having him superset high-rep push-ups with mile runs.

Many sport coaches often overemphasize energy system training with athletes, often to the detriment of other physical qualities. Check out any exercise physiology textbook and look at the studies performed on elite athletes and their VO2 maxes. It is not necessary for a baseball player, or a basketball player for that matter, to have a VO2 max of 70. The promotional materials I've read about CrossFit imply that this type of training addresses all the strength and conditioning needs of an athlete, but the concept of specificity suggests that if you try to excel at everything it is unlikely that you will reach the highest levels at anything. This is why we don't see individuals who can run a mile in four minutes flat and also bench press 500 pounds.

3. Insufficient Instruction for Teaching Complex Training Methods. It takes more than a single weekend seminar to develop the competency to teach certain types of exercises or be able to adequately prescribe protocols for complex training methods. In this category I would include the classical Olympic lifts, strongman exercises and plyometrics. Often in the strength coaching profession these aforementioned training methods have been criticized as dangerous; but when you look at why athletes become injured from these training methods, it can often be traced to poor technique.

4. Inappropriate Repetition Brackets for Complex Exercises. Although high repetitions and short rest intervals can be used to develop muscular endurance, these protocols should not be used in some exercises. This is especially true with the Olympic lifts, as it is difficult to maintain proper technique when using high reps with these exercises - especially when supersetting them with other multi-joint exercises such as deadlifts. Simply watching CrossFit trainees performing these lifts in videos on their website will confirm this truth. Further, the Olympic lifting movements are most appropriate for developing power; if you want to develop muscular endurance, simpler movements should be used.

5. Inappropriate Exercise Order. To achieve specific responses from exercises, the exercise order should be addressed. As shown in the "Linda" workout described earlier, what is the logic in fatiguing the lower back with deadlifts prior to performing power cleans? To activate the high-threshold motor units with power cleans and to perform them with optimal technique, all the sets of the power clean should be performed before deadlifts. Further, combining weight training exercises with sprints places an athlete at a high risk of injury, especially to the hamstrings.

6. Endorsement of Controversial Exercises. On one website of a CrossFit affiliate, I saw video clips of athletes jumping onto cars and standing on Swiss balls. I appreciate having a wide variety of exercises to use with clients, but you have to question the logic of using such high-risk exercises in a program.

The principle of individuality suggests that not everyone will response equally to the same workout program, and that for optimal results a workout program should take into account those factors that are responsible for this difference. If you're an 18-year-old Army recruit about to be deployed to Iraq, then perhaps the CrossFit program might be appropriate for this individual. If you're an elite athlete trying to reach the highest levels in your sport, a CrossFit approach may not be the optimal way to train.

Because of these concerns, I cannot recommend CrossFit training, especially for those seeking the highest levels of athletic performance. But in the interest of being open-minded, let's leave it at this: Despite its many inadequacies, CrossFit is a workout system that is continually evolving. It'll be interesting to see how the program changes as more athletes, and non-athletes, participate in this program.

My goodness. The overlapping homo-logy of Charles Poliquin, in his critique of our "militaristic" program, that of AGW kitties lapping at the creme of extravagant government funding, and leftists in their bass ackwards efforts to save the world from itself, is now obvious to me.

Stupidity, coupled with unacknowledged arrogance, is the order of the day.

Poliquin has not done one of our workouts. He has made no effort to understand that specific fitness is not our goal. He has done nothing but--this will come as a shock--repeat SLOGANS he has heard, put them in his words (since he is manifestly a genius; just ask him), and propound them from the pulpit of his scientific acumen, evidenced by--what?--his SUCCESS with athletes.

No doubt he feels he stands alone in this, and certainly in marked superiority to anyone here.

No doubt Barack Obama thinks he's going to help the poor.

We used to be a good country. At least our intelligentsia used to be intelligent. This is the home of philosophical pragmatism.

And yet the children of the 60's seem finally to have realized their long term goal of indoctrinating a nation to be foolish enough to turn our backs on everything that has ever worked for us.

Poliquin is a nobody. He is a symptom of a disease that surrounds us.

29 yom 225# 6'1"

had to skip 12/12 day as my hands are already hamburger
did the crossfit ontario challenge:
max reps 1.5 pood KB swings in 10 min.

151 swings
harder than I thought

Read John Stewart Mill's fine essay "On Liberty". He comes close to moral relativism at times, but overall presents a fine argument for what in this day and age would (or should, in my own view) be called conservatism. It was called liberalism in his own day.

What harms no one else, should be allowed. Moderate governmental interference in some areas is countenanced, provided it is not an effort of one portion of the populace to "save" another. You choose your own path, you enjoy the rewards, or pay the price.

Two quotes I thought I would pass along.

"The greatness of England is now all collective: individually small, we only appear capable of anything great by our habit of combining; and with this our moral and religious philanthropists are perfectly contented. But it was men of another stamp than this that made England what it has been and men of another stamp will be needed to prevent its decline."

I wrote "England declined" in the margin. He is here speaking of individualism, and its critical importance for cultural vigor. You can hardly be an individual swimming in a collectivist ethos founded on conformity. What passes, now, for individualism is best understood as simple perversity, peevishness, and sociopathy.

Two: "If civilization has got the better of barbarism when barbarism had the world to itself, it is too much to profess to be afraid lest barbarism, after having been fairly got under, should revive and conquer civilization. A civilization that can thus succumb to its vanquished enemy must first have become so degenerate, that neither its appointed priests and teachers, nor anybody else, has the capacity, or will take the trouble, to stand up for it. If this be so, the sooner such a civilization receives notice to quit, the better. It can only go on from bad to worse, until regenerated (like the Western Empire) by energetic barbarians."

On the actual topic of the day, couple thoughts.

First, you need to prevent stupid terrorists. I think any cop, or bank employee, or TSA employee, or any intelligent person whatever, can come up with ways to beat any system. At the same time, we need to understand that it is not the Einstein's (irony intended) of the Muslim world that are trying to blow themselves and others up.

When I worked for the campus police in college, a couple kids held up some students next to their dorm, then fled. In their haste, they threw their gun in the bushes. While the police were still there, and the victims still there, they came back to get it. They were arrested. One cop commented afterwards "we don't get the smart ones".

If all criminals were as good as the people who make a hobby of testing our systems, our jails would be much less crowded, and our streets much less safe.

Second, it occurred to me that we have no choice but to submit ourselves to this security system. It would be interesting to allow airlines to self regulate their own security. Some airlines could be much less scrupulous in their security in the interest of speed, and others more like El Al. Certainly, I don't think the government should be in the business of telling airlines their business, absent crass and unsupportable racism, which profiling of young Muslim males is not.

You could have multiple lines, of varying degrees of "safety". You would incent efficiency, and allow individual passengers to choose their own risk tolerance, and allow airlines to charge accordingly. It would create an interesting differentiator in an industry where only Southwest appears to be playing the game well.

One other comment. I quoted Mill--who I admire--without noting the exceptions. I have biographies both of Churchill and Disraeli on my shelf. Both were clearly individuals, among others.

Tony Blair was a great ally, as was John Howard in Australia. Reading Michael Yon's book "Moment of Truth in Iraq", it's clear that a great deal of British heroism occurred prior to the British government's politically motivated decision to pull out their troops. The story about the mechanics on the bridge is enough to make any man doubt his fitness to face that sort of challenge.

My point, ultimately, is that if America is "alone", as Mark Steyn puts it, we are muffing it. Britain is ahead of us in its socialism, but we seem to be moving not far behind.

No doubt there are elements in Britain, Australia, Canada, and other nations who understand what I am saying. I smoke a Danish pipe in recognition of the Danish cartoonist' failure to conform to what was proper, decent, and--let us not shortchange this--safe.

Perhaps the future belongs to stubborn curmudgeons. One can hope. Certainly, I am a card carrying member.

Let us all offer a toast to what is immutably individual, solitary, truculent, and true in our lives. We can at this point seemingly do no more, and it would be wrong to do less.

m/5'3"/155/28

used the off day to run some sprints, integral to getting some endurance and power and cutting those last few pounds for me. no exact distances but ran sprints for about fifteen minutes, did four rounds of five high jumps with a sprint back ran about a half or three/quarter miles to the field and then back

Walked-into CrossFit Oahu on Thursday for their WOD:

AMRAP in 20 minutes, scaled down to:

12 Box jump
4 Shoulder Press 75#
60 Skipping (5:1 sub for 12 double unders)
4 Band-assisted L-sit pullups

Completed 6 rounds.

#135 Barry C.

I'll certainly raise up to that.

I see there's been a helicopter crash which perhaps conveniently has killed the navy seals team who reputedly took out Bin Laden. If I was a conspiracy theorist I'd be thinking, well, that's the witnesses taken care of then. This is just too much coincidence for me.