ME Squat 1/4/12

Low Box Squat (EFS Box, Pin in hole#2)

2×5@45

95×5

135×5

185×5

225×5

265×5

SLDL

45×15

3×10 @ 135

Lunge

3×10

45 Degree Back Raise

2×10

Incline situp

2×10

Early AM workout, not too tough after a Monster and some water.  It’s the only way I know I’ll get training done, so that’s what I gotta do.  Started warming up at about 6:40, done training around 7:50, in the office at 8:40.

 


Baltimore Calendar of Events

Every month, my wife, J, puts up a Calendar of Events for Baltimore.  Check it out!


More stuff to keep you up at night

Via the ACLU, a story about, well, a court ruling on something affecting somebody, somehow.

Then we among the general public, including journalists from all the major media outfits in Boston, listened and heard nothing, as the prosecutors, our lawyers and the judge conversed secretly, in plain sight. I have no idea what they said. I still don’t know, because my colleagues, lawyers at the ACLU of Massachusetts, are prohibited by court order from telling me.

So all I know is what I saw. As Donald Rumsfeld said, there are known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns. After the proceedings this morning, I’m left with little of the former, and a whole lot of the latter two.

The known knowns: the scrum of lawyers, defense and prosecution, addressed the judge. I saw the judge speak to the lawyers. Then I saw our attorneys return to their bench, closer to where I was sitting, out of earshot of the sidebar. But the ADA stayed with the judge. He spoke to her, with his back to the courtroom, for about ten minutes. Our attorneys didn’t get to hear what he said to her, didn’t have a chance to respond to whatever the government was saying about our client, about the case. It was frankly shocking.

After those ten minutes of secret government-judge conversation, our attorneys were invited back to the sidebar, whereupon the scrum of lawyers spoke with the judge for another ten or fifteen minutes. Then they dispersed. The judge uttered not one word to the open court. And that was it.

Stunned, I followed a group of reporters outside and listened as Attorney Krupp attempted to answer their questions. It was then I realized that the judge had impounded all the court records related to the case, and mandated complete secrecy governing the proceedings. The public wasn’t even to know whether our motion to quash had been approved or denied.

If you don’t think this is frightening, you’re an idiot and a sheep.  Unfortunately, there are far to many idiot sheep who can somehow find their way to the voting booth.


Quote of the Day

Via Jim Wendler:

Why are you afraid to eat food? Eating doesn’t make you fat. Carbs don’t make you fat. Bad choices make you fat. Don’t make bad choices.

Apply that to everything, not just eating… good advice, huh?


Serious Reservations

When our Dear Leader signed the latest defense bill in to law, he expressed serious reservations about the power of the executive branch.  His reservations?  That the bill tried to limit the Executive’s power to detain people without due process.

President Obama ended 2011 by signing a major defense bill, despite what he called “serious reservations” about provisions regarding interrogations of terrorist suspects, sanctions against Iran, and relations with Russia.

“Some in Congress continue to insist upon restricting the options available to our counter-terrorism professionals and interfering with the very operations that have kept us safe,” Obama said in a statement issued from Hawaii, where he is spending his end-of-the-year vacation.

All this Change ™.  He’s continued the ‘failed policies’ of the previous administration.. and in some cases went further (for all his faults, George W. Bush didn’t assassinate a US citizen, The One did.)

People who continue to support this administration for any reason related to civil rights are fools.

 


2012

2011 was one of the hardest years I’ve had.  A tragic death.  Overwhelmed at work.  Unhealthy.

But with all the negative, there’s still a ton of positive.  My wife remains awesome.  Our relationship held up just fine to some serious strain this year.  I have a good job with a great company.  I got to Napa, NYC twice, and continue to enjoy the finer things.  We got two new (to us) cars.

I’m ready for 2012, because I’m motivated to get things back together.  To have balance.  I love to work hard, but I need to have time to cook, to talk, to engage socially.  I need to get back in the gym.  Sure, there will be days that work is all I do, but I need far more days that work isn’t all I do.

I need to be better.

And I will.


DE Bench 12/31/11

Bench Press

2×10 @ 45

95×3

135×3

155×3

8×3 @ 175

4 Board Press

175×3

225×3

245×3

DB Bench Press

40×10

45×10

50×10

DB Row

60×10

65×10

70×10

Pressdown

4×12

Felt great to get under a bar.  Excited to have a goal and feel like I have a plan.

Now I have to execute.

For those interested in such things, I was 234 lbs yesterday morning, and I’m about 22% bodyfat.  That will change pretty quickly as I clean up my diet a little.

 


This Can Happen To You

This story highlights a couple of things:

  • The war on drugs leads to horrific violations of individual rights.
  • Allowing the government to confiscate property from people suspected of drug law violations is a crime
  • A dog ‘alert’ is not probable cause.

When Pompton Lakes police seized Darren Richardson’s car on a rainy September afternoon, they told him it was headed for an impound lot. When they returned it three weeks later, he says, the 2004 BMW belonged in a junk yard.

The instrument cluster and leather dashboard were gone. The caramel-colored seats were torn up. The gear shift was ripped out and stray wires hung limp everywhere. Geico, Richardson’s insurance company estimated the damage at $12,636.42 — more than he paid for the car — and declared the vehicle a “total loss.”

According to police reports, the damage to the black BMW 325i came in the aftermath of a traffic stop during which officers detected a “strong odor of raw marijuana” inside the vehicle. Searching for a cache of drugs, members of three different police agencies and a detective from a federal drug task force spent two days tearing the car apart, the reports said.

So what did police find after their $12,000 search?

Absolutely nothing.

Now to me, it doesn’t matter what they found, but it’s important to lots of other people, who think it’s just fine to ignore individual rights if we get bad guys.  (See also:  TSA).  Those people are ignorant sheep.

Before you get indignant, mouthing off to a cop isn’t a crime, and in some cases is our duty.

If anyone thinks any officer will be held responsible or that the state will reimburse the insurance company after the investigation, I’ve got some nice waterfront property for you.  They will find the officers acted appropriately, maybe even congratulate them.

 

 

 


Quiet

Yes, I’ve been quiet.

Working hard, earning my keep.  Completely lost control of my life; it’s time to get it back.

Went to Savannah, GA for a long weekend.  We could live there.  At least 9 months out of the year, anyway.

Changes are coming.  Balance will return.  Got some goals, one of which is a total at the 2012 MD State PLing championships.


Take a Stand

Once known as a holiday to give thanks for family, friends, and the opportunities we share, Thanksgiving is the beginning of our six week long celebration of the end of one year and beginning of the next.

The beginning of the holiday shopping season.

Tomorrow is “Black Friday”, the busiest brick and mortar shopping day of the year.  Not that long ago, it was simply just a very busy shopping day, not fraught with sales and incentives.  (I always thought it would make more sense for retailers to intentionally spread out the holiday spending over a longer period, but what do I know?)

What it’s become bothers me, and I think it’s time to take a stand.  Those who know me know I’m all for people spending money on whatever they want, whenever they want.  While I may not share the populations desire for constant consumption, I am a big fan of getting the things I want and that make my life easier for a good price.

But the day after Thanksgiving blitz has gotten out of control.

I remember a time (and I’m not that old) when you had to make sure you got gas on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, because all the gas stations were closed.  20 years ago, I worked in one of the first McDonalds to open for breakfast on Thanksgiving – we opened from 6 to 11 and served breakfast.  We weren’t all that busy.

Today, McDonalds are open 24 hours.  Convenience stores and grocery stores have normal hours (which I think is more a demand issue, which is fine).  Beltway Fine Wine?  Open.  Wal-Mart is open 24 hours.

And tonight?  At midnight, Target, Toys R Us, HH Gregg, Macy’s, Ace Hardware, Kohls, and many, many more retailers will open their doors.

Old Navy is open today!  120 Best Buy locations will open at 9PM tonight.

What happened?  Do we really need to start shopping 10-12 hours earlier?  How many families jump up from Thanksgiving dinner and rush out to go shopping?

You know who can stop this?  We can.  Start a movement.  Don’t go shopping until tomorrow.  Better yet, don’t go shopping this weekend at all!  Make this weekend about something other than the sale, other than the price drop.  Retailers will listen and adjust.

Maybe I’m getting old, but my Thanksgiving remains about family and friends, about a large meal and lots of wine.  This year, it’s about Ravens football, too.  All with my wife, parents, siblings, aunt, cousins, nieces, and nephews.  Not with some crowd trying to save $40 on a big TV.  Time with my family is worth more to me.

You?


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 469 other followers