The window to my world

Apple is getting all the ducks in a line to release the iPad. The iPad struck me as an over-sized iTouch and tightly locks you into Apple. Funny how those Apple fanbois complain about Microsoft lock-in…

Back to the point I want to make. Apple is showing signs they may have priced the iPad too high even for its lemmings of fans out there. In this Wall Street Journal blog post it is hinted that Apple may cut the iPad prices if the sales aren’t there.

“Shope also wrote that despite the seemingly aggressive pricing of the iPad — the lower-than-expected price points range from $499 to $829 — Apple seemed to indicate it would respond with price cuts if demand for the device wasn’t revving up the way it liked. “While it remains to be seen how much traction the iPad gets initially, management noted that it will remain nimble (pricing could change if the company is not attracting as many customers as anticipated),” Shope wrote.”

So want to save some money on an iPad? Just sit back and wait. Seeing how many fanbois are already wetting themselves over the iPad I don’t think Apple will be cutting the prices anytime soon.

Leading up to the Super Bowl I was seeing lots of press about the “anti-abortion” message that would given by the Tim Tebow ad via Focus on the Family. I watched the ad during the game, and even again online after the game, to form my own opinion to this anti-abortion message.

Not once during the ad did I hear the word abortion used, nor anything hinting at an abortion message. Tim’s mom said it was rough. some tough choices were made, but here is her son. I guess talking about making tough choices mean you are anti-abortion to the media today.

As a NRA certified handgun safety instructor I’m always on the lookout for material to present to students that goes beyond the text. While mainly focused on safety I do cover some defensive use of handguns. The most recent book I read to expand my knowledge is Combat Focus Shooting: Intuitive Shooting Fundamentals by Rob Pincus. In his book Pincus covers areas that many other authors have also covered but two things stood out for me in reading his book.

In going through his book the first thing that struck me was Pincus’s writing style. A good writer, especially on a technical subject, needs to break down the information so that it can be absorbed by the reader that may not have as much technical knowledge as the author. Pincus fulfilled this requirement quite well. Many times during the book I could instantly visualize the point Pincus was making. Pincus also kept things short and to do the point. I’ve seen some authors go through pages upon pages explaining shooting stances where Pincus covers it in a few pages, including explaining why you want to use this stance

The other area that stood out for me is the intuitive part of the book. Pincus has examined what your body wants to do in a stressful situation and using that as a starting point for his system. Those familiar with Tony Blauer’s S.P.E.A.R. System will recognize this approach. I’ve been through training classes before where the instructor has drilled us on what to do, but not explaining always why we want to do this. Examining what your mind and body want to do and building your system around is a big selling point to me. Those that rather fight what your body wants to do may not agree with me on this point.

Overall I came away with some good information to share in my classes and will suggest Pincus’s book to those in my class. If you have an interested in self-defense usage of a handgun and looking to learn more then Pincus’s book should be on your reading list.

President Obama calls the Supreme Court ruling easing campaign spending by corporations and labor unions “devastating”. Easing restrictions on free speech is devastating? Saying that the First Amendment protects political free speech for all Americans is devastating?

Funny how it is the Democrats, those that want to stand up for the rights of the people find this “devastating”.

Scott Brown wins Ted Kennedy’s old seat in the Senate despite the best efforts of the Democratic Party machine to smear him every way they could. Some of the Democrats were even comparing the frustration that people were feeling and thus turning to Brown as Bush’s fault. It would have been a huge surprise for Brown to lose this race given the lack of competence his opponent demonstrated.

Now though the Democrats are tripping over themselves to say he should be seated right away. No dummies, they know the people are pissed off at the people in charge (Democrats) and they don’t want to fan those flames and see huge losses. That still hasn’t stopped some Democrats from saying their lose in this election was due to people still being angry at Bush. One word to dscribe those people: Idiots.

Instead of making a resolution to start off the new year, lets do it with a challenge. And what could be a better challenge than the One Hundred Day Burpee Challenge? Right, pretty much anything. Therefore it is the perfect challenge to start the new year off with. So on January 1, 2010, kick off the challenge.

If you don’t what the One Hundred Day Burpee Challenge is exactly, here is a run down. Day on (1/1/10) you do 1 burpee, Day 2 (1/2/10) is 2 burpees, Day 3 (1/3/10) is 3 burpees, and keep going till you get to day 100 (4/10/10) where you are now at 100 burpees. So on 1/1/2010, 3-2-1 Go!

FAQ

Q: What’s a burpee?
A: Wikipedia has a write-up on the burpee. You can also check out this video or this one on YouTube.

Q: I can’t do 100 of those evil things!
A: I’m willing to bet you can do one. Start with one and on day 2 do one, and then one more. Look at it as doing 1 burpee and build upon that. The proper mental approach will help you make it through this.

Q: On a given day, do I have to do all the burpees at once?
A; No, you just have to do that given number for the day. Using day 50 again, if you need to break it down into blocks of 10 with a rest in between, then that is what you do. The goal is getting all the burpees done for that day.

Q: What if I miss a day?
A: You poor fool… You still have to do the burpees. Lets say you missed doing the burpees on day 50, on day 51 you have to do those burpees (51) and the ones you missed (50). That should be a good incentive not to miss a day

It seems releasing terrorists from Gitmo and trying to rehabilitate with “art therapy” doesn’t work so well. I’m glad I wasn’t sitting at the table when this was suggested, I would have laughed myself silly.

Hopefully the government will get an idea of what we are dealing with regarding these terrorists. I’m hope it is before they kill more innocent people.

Every time she opens her mouth it just confirms she has no clue. Listening to what she had to say about the latest terroist attack attempt made my head hurt:

“What we are focused on is making sure that the air environment remains safe, that people are confident when they travel. And one thing I’d like to point out is that the system worked. Everybody played an important role here. The passengers and crew of the flight took appropriate action.”

So having the device a terrorist is wearing fail along with a passenger jumping said terrorist is part of the plan? This is like a football coach saying “Okay, after the opposing quarterback fumbles the ball, we’ll scoop it up and run it in for a touchdown to win the game!” Can you hear the laughter if a football coach said that?

Only problem here is this isn’t a football game, it is the life of American citizens. We need someone in the government that can come up with a real plan and implement the plan. Not holding my breath with this administration.

Many Democrats are complaining as how the Republicans are being hypocrites on health care reform. The argument goes like this: Republicans are bucking the Democratic proposals, which I agree they should be stopped, but the Republicans had no issues when proposing unfunded Medicare reform.

Myself I was ticked off at the Republicans for pushing this 6 years ago. It was bad policy and bad economics. And I’ll agree that the Senators that backed Medicare reform 6 years ago are being hypocrites. This however is politics as usual.

My personal opinion is the Federal Government has zero business in being involved with health care. They can regulate a health care company that does business across multiple states, that is the power given to them by the Constitution, other than that stick to those limited powers you are suppose to have and leave the rest to the states or the People.

A little recipe for making a batch of hot buttered rum, perfect for the holiday season. You canomit the brown sugar and still have a tasty drink. Nice drink for sitting at home and relaxing.

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature (I like using Kerrygold butter)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon clove
1 cup light brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 cup honey

Mix dry ingredients together, then mix in butter till it is creamed. Add the honey and stir in till well mixed.

Add a heaping tablespoon to a mug, 2-3 ounces (adjust to your taste) of your favorite rum. I would suggest Captain Morgan’s Private Stock. Add boiling water, stir and enjoy