The passage reads:
Jesus said unto him. Thou shalt love the Lord with all they heart, and all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
I am probably not known to be the most religious person around, but this passage came to my mind on Easter, as I thought about what Easter means. I wasn't at church, as you may expect, but on my way to Hooters for a few beers. I didn't want to take up space, so that all the C&E folks would have plenty of room. But, what does that passage mean? I grew up in the Church of Christ, so it was expected for you to read the Bible, and make your interpretation. No, intermediaries, like in other religions. So I says to myself, "Johnny, what do you think?" How can one keep this greatest of commandments? Can you just say, "Oh yea, I believe that." Or should one show demonstrable action. I felt that one should show action. How would you? The answer is there in verse 39. " And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. " What does it mean to love thy neighbor as thyself? Here is where my thoughts begin.
I think we are all inherently selfish. Some may disagree, but if you really look, what drives any action that you take. Whether it be helping someone, working hard, drinking beer, it doesn't matter. We pursue ends for our personal fulfillment. Someone may benefit, but in the end, we would not do a thing if we didn't benefit more, or at the very least we were indifferent as to whether or not someone else benefited. If God made man in his own image, and if God is a selfish God, then would it stand to reason, that this proposition is true? How would we keep the commandment in verse 39? Follow the golden rule. Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. Or to state the same rule in the negative, Do not do unto others the things that you would not want them to do to you. By this time, you may be asking, where the hell is this guy going? Good question. It is an a priori, self-evident truth, that we have free will. Whether or not it's God given is irrelevant. So, what could be more unjust, more unloving, more un-God like than to impose your will upon someone else? Or for a person to impose their will upon you? Could you agree that it is just for a person to make, influence, and or direct you to do a thing which is against your will? I would answer in the negative. So, in my mind, I think that to keep the golden rule and the commandments in verse 37 and 39 we must allow our neighbor, loved one, etc... To choose. To choose wrongly or rightly. To love one, is to allow them to fail or to succeed on their own merits. To love another, is to allow them the freedom to understand, to exercise their free will, regardless of how much sorrow or happiness it may bring us. What is a more beautiful feeling, to know that you have "saved" someone, or for them to come to you and say, "Hey, now I get it. I had to learn the hard way, but I understand now." The "teach a man to fish parable". The lesson I drew: To love God, allow your fellow man his freedom of action, his free will, as God has allowed you the same.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Unalienable Duties
Everyone talks about their rights, but not about their duties. Here is a list of our unalienable duties under natural law.
The duty to honor the supremacy of the Creator and his laws.
The duty not to take the life of another except in self-defense.
The duty not to steal or destroy the property of another.
The duty to be honest in all transactions with others.
The duty of children to honor and obey their parents and elders.
The duty of parents and elders to protect, teach, feed, clothe, and provide shelter for children.
The duty to support law and order and keep the peace.
The duty not to contrive through a covetous heart to despoil another.
The duty to provide insofar as possible for the needs of the helpless, the sick, the crippled, the injured and the poverty stricken.
The duty to honorably perform contracts and covenants both with God and man.
The duty to be temperate.
The duty to become economically self-sufficient.
The duty not to trespass on the property or privacy of another.
The duty to maintain the integrity of the family structure.
The duty to perpetuate the race.
The duty not to promote or participate in the vices which destroy personal and community life.
The duty to perform civic responsibilities - vote, assist public officials, serve in official capacities when called upon, stay informed on public issues, volunteer where needed.
The duty not to aid or abet those involved in criminal or anti-social activites.
The duty to support personal and public standards of common decency.
The duty to follow rules of moral rectitude.
The duty to honor the supremacy of the Creator and his laws.
The duty not to take the life of another except in self-defense.
The duty not to steal or destroy the property of another.
The duty to be honest in all transactions with others.
The duty of children to honor and obey their parents and elders.
The duty of parents and elders to protect, teach, feed, clothe, and provide shelter for children.
The duty to support law and order and keep the peace.
The duty not to contrive through a covetous heart to despoil another.
The duty to provide insofar as possible for the needs of the helpless, the sick, the crippled, the injured and the poverty stricken.
The duty to honorably perform contracts and covenants both with God and man.
The duty to be temperate.
The duty to become economically self-sufficient.
The duty not to trespass on the property or privacy of another.
The duty to maintain the integrity of the family structure.
The duty to perpetuate the race.
The duty not to promote or participate in the vices which destroy personal and community life.
The duty to perform civic responsibilities - vote, assist public officials, serve in official capacities when called upon, stay informed on public issues, volunteer where needed.
The duty not to aid or abet those involved in criminal or anti-social activites.
The duty to support personal and public standards of common decency.
The duty to follow rules of moral rectitude.
Unalienable Rights
The Declaration of Independence stated 3 of our unalienable rights under natural law.
The did not state all of them, so here are some more.
The right to:
self-government
bear arms for self-defense
own, develop, and dispose of property
make personal choices
free conscience
choose a profession
choose a mate
beget one's kind
assemble
petition
free speech
free press
enjoy the fruits of one's labors
improve one's position through barter and sale
contrive and invent
privacy
provide personal security
provide nature's necessities - air, food, water, clothing, shelter
a fair trial
free association
contract
The did not state all of them, so here are some more.
The right to:
self-government
bear arms for self-defense
own, develop, and dispose of property
make personal choices
free conscience
choose a profession
choose a mate
beget one's kind
assemble
petition
free speech
free press
enjoy the fruits of one's labors
improve one's position through barter and sale
contrive and invent
privacy
provide personal security
provide nature's necessities - air, food, water, clothing, shelter
a fair trial
free association
contract
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Realpolitik
No workout today. Had to make a compromise between working out and politics. The decision was not hard.
I have been casually studying Austrian Economic Theory over the past year with information from the Mises Institute. After the TARP program and the the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were passed, I asked myself, "Johnny, if you were broke, would you spend more money?" The answer is a resounding no, not only for me but for most anyone. Keynesian Economic Theory, says that government should and I disagree with it. Keynesian Economics is what we were taught in schools, so most folks think yea, this is a good theory. Whereas, in fact, it is not. See Where Keynes Went Wrong. Glenn Beck was all for the stimulus act and said it should be even bigger than it was. Beck is a douche bag. Around the same time, the Tea Party movement began. Which in my opinion, was basically an offshoot of the ideas about fiscal conservatism that began to become popular during Ron Paul's campaign in 2008. The Republican Party has a fissure between the old Bush Republicans, i.e. Sara Palin / Rick Perry / Mitt Romney and the Ron Paulian view for the Republican Party of classical liberalism. The outcome of this fissure and how it is resolved will ultimately make or break the Republican Party which, historically, going back to Lincoln is a party of coalitions. Ron Paul's view is essentially a Libertarian / classical liberal view grounded in the Subjective Theory of Value and a non-interventionist foreign policy.
Let me state, for the record, the Ron Paulian view is the view that I support as opposed to the Bush Republican view of big spending, neo-conservatism and compassionate conservatism. Which, in fact, is not a conservative position at all. The old Republicans and the Democrats are two sides of the same coin. So we look at Democrats with their current view on health-care. Is this really any different than the Bismark's realpolitik stance on domestic policy? Does anyone have any idea why Bismark developed state socialism? It was basically a counter-weight to the communistic movements that were sweeping across Europe with it's Marxist Labor Theory of Value which was totally invalidated by Eugen von Bohm-Bawerk. This counter-weight was implemented first and foremost to preserve the power of the Prussian King. Communism, Socialism, and Fascism are really one in the same only differing in matters of degree. This position is elegantly laid out by Jonah Goldberg's book Liberal Fascism.
With all of the above being mentioned, let me get to tonight. I found out after the polls closed for the primary elections, they have the precinct conventions for each party. My precinct is #4083 with 7xx voters registered as Republicans. All registered voters who vote in the primary elections can attend the precinct convention and select delegates to the Senatorial District Convention who in turn select delegates for the State Convention for the Republican Party. In addition to selecting delegates at each level to represent the party, resolutions can be proposed and voted upon, which help to determine the Republican Party of Texas Platform. Curiosity, got the better of me, so I decided, what the hell, I'll go check it out. I printed out quite a bit of information so I would have an idea of how the meetings are run, etc.. Also, I armed myself with resolutions to present from the campaign of Debra Medina. Well, what was merely meant as cursory overview of the process, devolved into me being the only person who showed up for my precinct. So, I did what I do naturally. I ran with it. I nominated my self precinct chairman of the precinct convention and secretary. Which basically meant that I had to fill out all the paper work, submit and vote on the resolutions I brought, and nominate myself to represent my precinct at the Senatorial District Convention on March 20th. The only bad part is that I had a 50k scheduled in Birmingham, Alabama that same day. I think i will pass on the race and cancel my plane ticket to go to the convention.
Basically, this is a way to work within the current system, hopefully to advocate the Ron Paulian views for the party at the county and state level. Who knows what will happen, but the current course of the party, the Bush Republican course is a dead end road.
The future of our country can go to ways, towards more Stateism, or we can choose to re-adopt the classical liberal values of our founders.
I choose freedom. I don't need any baby sitters.
I have been casually studying Austrian Economic Theory over the past year with information from the Mises Institute. After the TARP program and the the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were passed, I asked myself, "Johnny, if you were broke, would you spend more money?" The answer is a resounding no, not only for me but for most anyone. Keynesian Economic Theory, says that government should and I disagree with it. Keynesian Economics is what we were taught in schools, so most folks think yea, this is a good theory. Whereas, in fact, it is not. See Where Keynes Went Wrong. Glenn Beck was all for the stimulus act and said it should be even bigger than it was. Beck is a douche bag. Around the same time, the Tea Party movement began. Which in my opinion, was basically an offshoot of the ideas about fiscal conservatism that began to become popular during Ron Paul's campaign in 2008. The Republican Party has a fissure between the old Bush Republicans, i.e. Sara Palin / Rick Perry / Mitt Romney and the Ron Paulian view for the Republican Party of classical liberalism. The outcome of this fissure and how it is resolved will ultimately make or break the Republican Party which, historically, going back to Lincoln is a party of coalitions. Ron Paul's view is essentially a Libertarian / classical liberal view grounded in the Subjective Theory of Value and a non-interventionist foreign policy.
Let me state, for the record, the Ron Paulian view is the view that I support as opposed to the Bush Republican view of big spending, neo-conservatism and compassionate conservatism. Which, in fact, is not a conservative position at all. The old Republicans and the Democrats are two sides of the same coin. So we look at Democrats with their current view on health-care. Is this really any different than the Bismark's realpolitik stance on domestic policy? Does anyone have any idea why Bismark developed state socialism? It was basically a counter-weight to the communistic movements that were sweeping across Europe with it's Marxist Labor Theory of Value which was totally invalidated by Eugen von Bohm-Bawerk. This counter-weight was implemented first and foremost to preserve the power of the Prussian King. Communism, Socialism, and Fascism are really one in the same only differing in matters of degree. This position is elegantly laid out by Jonah Goldberg's book Liberal Fascism.
With all of the above being mentioned, let me get to tonight. I found out after the polls closed for the primary elections, they have the precinct conventions for each party. My precinct is #4083 with 7xx voters registered as Republicans. All registered voters who vote in the primary elections can attend the precinct convention and select delegates to the Senatorial District Convention who in turn select delegates for the State Convention for the Republican Party. In addition to selecting delegates at each level to represent the party, resolutions can be proposed and voted upon, which help to determine the Republican Party of Texas Platform. Curiosity, got the better of me, so I decided, what the hell, I'll go check it out. I printed out quite a bit of information so I would have an idea of how the meetings are run, etc.. Also, I armed myself with resolutions to present from the campaign of Debra Medina. Well, what was merely meant as cursory overview of the process, devolved into me being the only person who showed up for my precinct. So, I did what I do naturally. I ran with it. I nominated my self precinct chairman of the precinct convention and secretary. Which basically meant that I had to fill out all the paper work, submit and vote on the resolutions I brought, and nominate myself to represent my precinct at the Senatorial District Convention on March 20th. The only bad part is that I had a 50k scheduled in Birmingham, Alabama that same day. I think i will pass on the race and cancel my plane ticket to go to the convention.
Basically, this is a way to work within the current system, hopefully to advocate the Ron Paulian views for the party at the county and state level. Who knows what will happen, but the current course of the party, the Bush Republican course is a dead end road.
The future of our country can go to ways, towards more Stateism, or we can choose to re-adopt the classical liberal values of our founders.
I choose freedom. I don't need any baby sitters.
Monday, March 1, 2010
A case of the Mondays?
Alright, good weekend. Went to Austin on Sunday did a crazy monkey run with Josue. It rocked we jumped off cliffs, swam the creek a few times, ran up hills, climbed trees, jumped over shit, under shit, and climbed up grapevines! Freakin crazy man. All in VFF Treks, 16oz of water and a little bit of cane syrup. For 3.5 hours. I had some low blood sugar towards the end, I only had a small yogurt for Breakfast.
Saturday after noon, a visit with my coach Joe. All is well, not gonna do Tahoe 100 or Bear 100 this year after talking with him. Gonna focus on HardRock, Leadville, and Gila. Also though, I signed up for Fuego Y Agua. Should be fun, the RD is good people and some of the Austin folks that are going are also good folks.
Saturday night, I went to see a piece by Chopin at the Majestic in San Antonio. I was tired, and didn't pay for parking, so I was anxious the whole freakin time. Decided to go to Cowboys dancehall afterwards. I got a cab over there and a cab home, prob had 8 beers and some vodka shots. I felt like shit all day Sunday, like SHIT man! That's how it goes, I slept most of the day. I am gonna try to go all week w/o beer until the Nueces Marathon on Saturday. Lets see what happens.
Today, 8.5 miles did the firs 7 in an hour, then slowed a bit. Total time was 1:15:31. Came out to a 8:49 pace overall, put in some hills, and ran pretty leisurely was trying to keep the AVG HR down, ended up with 151 AVG 170 MAX, but only hit that twice. Something may be wrong with my HR monitor. I look at it sometimes in the middle of a run and it will read 43 or 36 or some crazy shit. Who knows, maybe I am freak of nature, or maybe this thing is a piece of crap-ola! It's a Polar F11. It doesn't stay like that, just for a few seconds maybe 15sec max. Anybody ever hear of anything like that happening? I was really glad about my run today, being as I wasn't going to go. But I was like man, you got to start bumping up your mileage, you big pussy. So I says, Johnny, git yer ass our there and make it happen. Sometimes when you get a run going, it gets better. Not this time, with this crappy as front that started blowing in this afternoon. When is winter going to be over? Got dammit.
Saturday after noon, a visit with my coach Joe. All is well, not gonna do Tahoe 100 or Bear 100 this year after talking with him. Gonna focus on HardRock, Leadville, and Gila. Also though, I signed up for Fuego Y Agua. Should be fun, the RD is good people and some of the Austin folks that are going are also good folks.
Saturday night, I went to see a piece by Chopin at the Majestic in San Antonio. I was tired, and didn't pay for parking, so I was anxious the whole freakin time. Decided to go to Cowboys dancehall afterwards. I got a cab over there and a cab home, prob had 8 beers and some vodka shots. I felt like shit all day Sunday, like SHIT man! That's how it goes, I slept most of the day. I am gonna try to go all week w/o beer until the Nueces Marathon on Saturday. Lets see what happens.
Today, 8.5 miles did the firs 7 in an hour, then slowed a bit. Total time was 1:15:31. Came out to a 8:49 pace overall, put in some hills, and ran pretty leisurely was trying to keep the AVG HR down, ended up with 151 AVG 170 MAX, but only hit that twice. Something may be wrong with my HR monitor. I look at it sometimes in the middle of a run and it will read 43 or 36 or some crazy shit. Who knows, maybe I am freak of nature, or maybe this thing is a piece of crap-ola! It's a Polar F11. It doesn't stay like that, just for a few seconds maybe 15sec max. Anybody ever hear of anything like that happening? I was really glad about my run today, being as I wasn't going to go. But I was like man, you got to start bumping up your mileage, you big pussy. So I says, Johnny, git yer ass our there and make it happen. Sometimes when you get a run going, it gets better. Not this time, with this crappy as front that started blowing in this afternoon. When is winter going to be over? Got dammit.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Salt
What does the title of this post have too do with it's contents? Not a damm thing. Had an excellent run today.
10 Miles total with a 2 mile walk home. haha
Did .5 mile warm up, followed by 9.5 miles of hard running. (the warm up was not included in the times that follow. The 1st 5 miles were 7:50 pace average, by the end I dropped back to like an 8:15 or 8:20 pace over all. The last 4.5 had the rolling hills and it got dark on me. So I'll take that. At 1 hour I was at 7.4 miles. No gels, or any crap, just water. Although, I could feel that my blood sugar was dropping somewhat towards the end. So 1 hour 19 minutes total time for the 9.5 miles. That is moving, baby!
AVG HR 159 MAX 177.
One of the most amazing things is that in less than a minute if I walk, the HR will drop 25 to 30 beats. That bodes well for pacing and interval/recovery. The 2 mile walk home was mostly because I started getting a blister on my right foot, and truthfully, I was running out of gas too.
So, another good day on the run training. Also did a few KB snatches with the 32kg bell. This weight feels heavy, so I am backing off some on my intensity and getting used to the feel of the bell. I need to hit another 2 week cycle of Viking Warrior, but this time with the 24kg bell on the 15:15 and move to the 36:36 with the 16kg bell. That should put me where I need to be for 7 minute paced miles for a half marathon. That would be nice and fast enough for now. Will work on that the 1st 2 weeks in March. I have the Nueces Trail Marathon next Saturday, I am hoping for a 4:30 time, but its a nasty course, so it will be hard to run it that fast, but I plan on laying it on the line and running till the wheels fall off. On March 20th I have a 50k in Birmingham, I plan to do the same, run till the wheels fall off. It's at Oak Mountain State Park, I have run there once, lots of good climbs, but not too steep. Will be visiting my sister out there also. Should be fun. Then a quick trip to Seaside.
10 Miles total with a 2 mile walk home. haha
Did .5 mile warm up, followed by 9.5 miles of hard running. (the warm up was not included in the times that follow. The 1st 5 miles were 7:50 pace average, by the end I dropped back to like an 8:15 or 8:20 pace over all. The last 4.5 had the rolling hills and it got dark on me. So I'll take that. At 1 hour I was at 7.4 miles. No gels, or any crap, just water. Although, I could feel that my blood sugar was dropping somewhat towards the end. So 1 hour 19 minutes total time for the 9.5 miles. That is moving, baby!
AVG HR 159 MAX 177.
One of the most amazing things is that in less than a minute if I walk, the HR will drop 25 to 30 beats. That bodes well for pacing and interval/recovery. The 2 mile walk home was mostly because I started getting a blister on my right foot, and truthfully, I was running out of gas too.
So, another good day on the run training. Also did a few KB snatches with the 32kg bell. This weight feels heavy, so I am backing off some on my intensity and getting used to the feel of the bell. I need to hit another 2 week cycle of Viking Warrior, but this time with the 24kg bell on the 15:15 and move to the 36:36 with the 16kg bell. That should put me where I need to be for 7 minute paced miles for a half marathon. That would be nice and fast enough for now. Will work on that the 1st 2 weeks in March. I have the Nueces Trail Marathon next Saturday, I am hoping for a 4:30 time, but its a nasty course, so it will be hard to run it that fast, but I plan on laying it on the line and running till the wheels fall off. On March 20th I have a 50k in Birmingham, I plan to do the same, run till the wheels fall off. It's at Oak Mountain State Park, I have run there once, lots of good climbs, but not too steep. Will be visiting my sister out there also. Should be fun. Then a quick trip to Seaside.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
WOW, I am Getting Faster.
Ah, I know I haven't posted since Friday, but so what.
Over the weekend, I drank beer and screwed around. Sat morning, put up my pull up bar from Stud Bar. That is cool, still haven't used it yet, but it makes for a great place to hang my ropes from.
Saturday night, I ran into Chris Nall a dude I went to high school with at my local Hooters. We sat around and drank beers and shots, and hit on some cougars. Had to get a cab home, hahah. You, know safety, safety.
Monday I finally got my competition 32kg bell from American Kettlebell Club, that I ordered back at the beginning of December. I am still waiting on the other one and a t-shirt. I am a little pissed off. They have a kettlebell training seminar in Ukraine this summer that I would like to go to, but after my experience so far, I think I will wait.
Also, Monday afternoon, I went to a Barefoot and Pose running seminar in Austin which was presented by Josue Stevens and some folks who train in POSE Running. Best damm seminar I have went to. Afterwards, I chilled out with my trail running friends and my good friend and pacer Naresh. It was a good day.
So on Tuesday, I started trying to run POSE style. Went for 4 miles in the MT100 from New Balance.
Hellva shoe. Didn't record any times, just practicing. Went well.
Tonight, I went for 8 miles, with the recording equipment.
8 Miles total with .5 mile cool down, and a stop for a piss.
1 hour and 5 seconds (7.5 miles). That's nice and that's moving baby.
AVG HR was 155 max was 175. I'll take that, had some nice roller hills in there.
Came out to a 8:05 pace. Best pace was 5:30, but only on downhills.
So, I am sold on POSE. WHY?? Well, last week when I was throwing back some hella paced runs, it really felt like I was stuck in 3rd gear with the pedal on the floor. Now its like, hey i am running sub 7, and yea my lungs feel it and my heart rate is high, but I got 3 gears left. So, bought some videos and books. I will be studying this method. Also, my legs didn't even feel anything. I am pumped, about this.
More in the coming weeks.
Over the weekend, I drank beer and screwed around. Sat morning, put up my pull up bar from Stud Bar. That is cool, still haven't used it yet, but it makes for a great place to hang my ropes from.
Saturday night, I ran into Chris Nall a dude I went to high school with at my local Hooters. We sat around and drank beers and shots, and hit on some cougars. Had to get a cab home, hahah. You, know safety, safety.
Monday I finally got my competition 32kg bell from American Kettlebell Club, that I ordered back at the beginning of December. I am still waiting on the other one and a t-shirt. I am a little pissed off. They have a kettlebell training seminar in Ukraine this summer that I would like to go to, but after my experience so far, I think I will wait.
Also, Monday afternoon, I went to a Barefoot and Pose running seminar in Austin which was presented by Josue Stevens and some folks who train in POSE Running. Best damm seminar I have went to. Afterwards, I chilled out with my trail running friends and my good friend and pacer Naresh. It was a good day.
So on Tuesday, I started trying to run POSE style. Went for 4 miles in the MT100 from New Balance.
Hellva shoe. Didn't record any times, just practicing. Went well.
Tonight, I went for 8 miles, with the recording equipment.
8 Miles total with .5 mile cool down, and a stop for a piss.
1 hour and 5 seconds (7.5 miles). That's nice and that's moving baby.
AVG HR was 155 max was 175. I'll take that, had some nice roller hills in there.
Came out to a 8:05 pace. Best pace was 5:30, but only on downhills.
So, I am sold on POSE. WHY?? Well, last week when I was throwing back some hella paced runs, it really felt like I was stuck in 3rd gear with the pedal on the floor. Now its like, hey i am running sub 7, and yea my lungs feel it and my heart rate is high, but I got 3 gears left. So, bought some videos and books. I will be studying this method. Also, my legs didn't even feel anything. I am pumped, about this.
More in the coming weeks.
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