It Doesn't Work That Way

I know I said I wasn't going to post until after the New Year but this is really bugging me.

The talk everywhere has been on Meet The Press and David Gregory waving a banned 30 round magazine at Wayne LaPierre. Liberals and the media (BIRM) have been trying desperately to excuse him and have basically made our point for us. Banning has never, doesn't and will never work. On anything. But there's a point that is being missed in the prosecute/don't debate.

DC police says they didn't give him permission. ATF says they may have or maybe they didn't. Doesn't really matter. The fact is that no police officer can give permission to break the law. Period. I made a comment at Paw Paw's House about this. Can you imagine?

Reporter. "The officer totally gave me permission to break the law. It's totally not my fault. I had no intention to commit any crime. I'm allowed. I'm just doing journalist stuff."

Officer. "Yes Chief, I told the guy he could drive 100 mph through that school zone. He's a reporter and was doing a segment on speeding and dangerous driving. No intent there."

NHTSA.  "Well, one of our investigators may have given Mister Reporter permission to drive 75 mph over the speed limit in a school zone. Or maybe not. We'll investigate and get back to you on that. But even if we or the officer did it's clear there was no intent there."

Chief. "We'll open an investigation on Mister reporter and get back to you Common Folks later. Maybe."

No. Can't be done. Stop arguing about it and asking who gave him permission. No permission was allowed or could lawfully be given. Specific Intent isn't required in this case. I know the law is stupid but it is the law. Either it applies to everyone or it doesn't but no one could give Gregory permission to do what he did. No one. The best they could have done (and certainly what Gregory should have done) is to have an officer bring the magazine to the studio and do all the handling and displaying. Would have made his point better anyway.

Just to repeat myself and drive home this point to all the reporters and their toe licking lackeys. A police officer cannot give you permission to break the law. Let's say you go on a search warrant ride along and after all the bad guys are in handcuffs an officer gives you the okay and you grab a cellophane baggy of a white powdery substance in your grubby paw. You take it outside and wave it in front of the camera doing your best Jaded Crime Reporter schtick on air. Turns out it indeed ends up being a gram of Cocaine. Guess what? That's right Scooter, you just committed the crime of possession of a controlled substance for all the world to see and your butt should end up in the slammer. In a perfect world. No intent is required. Simple possession is enough. Probably wouldn't get prosecuted (depending on the DA and how bad he wants to be seen as tough on crime and how close the next election is) but that's not because you didn't break the law. Just like Gregory did. Either prosecute him or admit the laws are different for some animals and don't but please stop trying to find excuses. Your ignorance and bias is showing.

The stupidity. It burns.

Six

What We're doing Tomorrow

Tomorrow I attempt something Totally Stupid. For anyone who missed it I signed up to do trhe 100 Miles Of Nowhere, a cancer fundraiser put on by Fatty at The Fat Cyclist. It started as 100 miles on a bike on rollers but has morphed into 100 miles on either rollers or a very short course or frankly however and wherever you like. It's a great event and raises money to fight an evil disease that effects just about everyone, one way or another. There's a bonus. My daughter, The DO, will be doing something on her own in far off Hungary. I don't know what she has planned but I like to imagine we're doing it together.

This is my first time doing this event. I have a very personal reason for doing so. My mother is in the last stages of terminal lung cancer and I'm dedicating my effort tomorrow to her. In that light, because it's so close and personal to me, I decided more was needed. I decided on a triathlon but one with a twist.

100 miles on a bike, 10K on a treadmill and 100,000 pounds lifted. I chose to lift because;
1. I can't swim and even if I could the bathtub is kinda small for laps.
2. I can lift and I have a nice little gym out behind my house.

I'll start out the day lifting. In my training it was pretty apparent that I was expending a lot of energy getting the 100,000 pound total. So much so that I was bonking during the lifting portion when I tried biking or running first. I'll post my totals but bear this in mind. In order to reach the total I want, with enough left in the tank to continue, I'm going to be lifting moderate to light weights for very high repititions. 100 reps per exercise. For instance I'll only be benching 200 pounds. 100 reps at 200 pounds will give me 20,000 pounds toward my total. To reach that at 400 pounds I'd need 50 reps but 50 reps at 400 would leave me pretty much done for any other pushing exercise. Doing the lighter weight/higher rep routine allows me to immediately go to dips and later overheads without arm burnout. If all goes well I'll be done anywhere between 90 minutes and 2 hours.

From there I'll jump on the bike. I have a set of rollers and cable TV in the gym. I plan on doing four 25 mile legs with a 10 minute rest in between. Anticipated time is around 5 hours.

Lastly the 10K. By this time I'll be pretty much ruined. I'm confidant I can run at a very modest pace and get it done in 90 minutes but I'll go as fast as I can.

So there it is. I have a goal, a plan and a complete lack of common sense. If it goes to plan I'll be done in somewhere between 8 and 9 hours. Lu will act as my pit crew, feeding me, fetching needed items, loading weight bars and generally supporting me and acting as my coach and cheerleader. She's a peach. I'll post pictures and a write up as soon as I can, hopefully immediately after but that's dependant on how I'm feeling.

This is for you Ma. It's so little but it's all I can do. It's my way of reminding you how much I love you and that I will do what I can to eradicate the disease that will so soon seperate us. You will be first in my mind tomorrow and indeed every day.

Wish me luck or place bets on what catastrophe will befall my dumb ass. If it takes all day I will finish.

Six

Update: Done. I couldn't stand the strain (patience has never been one of my virtues) so I did the Tri last night. Started at 1430 and ended just shy of 2326. I completed all three disciplines but had a little trouble with a knee. I'll post the whole thing a little later. At the moment I'm trying to convince my legs not to leave me in a huff and go live with their Mom.