Need a Hobby?

Today the Supreme court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby when it comes to the Affordable Care Act.  Hobby Lobby management did not want to provide healthcare coverage that provided the morning after pill and IUD.  Hobby Lobby cited religious reasons as to why they do not want to provide coverage that would pay for these methods of birth control.  From everything that I have read and heard about the IUD and the morning after pill, I would argue with Hobby Lobby that these are immoral or unethical.  This does not mean that the government has the power to force them provide coverage that includes these methods of birth control.

Many on the left are upset because they feel that women have a right to all forms of birth control and employers are responsible to provide women with a way to obtain them. This would mean that the employer may have to check their religious beliefs at the door. This to me seems to violate the first amendment.

There are those out there that truly see contraceptives as a sin. They believe that people should not interfere with this part of nature. They would have moral issues with being involved in any part of the process. This would truly violate their conscience. 

The left would also say that this is a corporation and has no right to freedom of religion. While I do not agree with Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, it does set the precedent that corporations have 14th Amendment protections. Couple that with incorporation and this means that corporations have 1st Amendment rights. Now, I agree with the left that this is crazy especially since people in the corporations commit fraud and rarely face indvidual consequences. Even if one rejects SCC v SPR, then one must concede that corporations are made up of people and those people cannot be forced to violate their conscience. 

Some of my liberal friends argue that this opens Pandora's Box and now companies will be able to discriminate based on religion. If a white does not want to hire an African-American or a Christian does not want to serve a Muslim then they will not have to because of this ruling. This argument sounds a lot like the "if gays can marry then a dad and daughter can marry

or a woman and a horse" argument. We still use common sense with laws. It is interesting to me that both sides use the same templates for their arguments. 

Our nation has chosen certain values to follow. One of them is to protect te freedom of religion. This must be protected at all costs. Just as freedom of speech and due process should be protected at all costs along with our other constitutional rights. Your boss not assisting you in purchasing birth control does not prevent you from going out and getting it yourself but the government forcing your boss to violate their conscience does violate their first amendment rights.

Good Corporations

Yesterday, I was catching up on The Daily Show.  One of the episodes had an interview with Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks.  He was on the show promoting their new program that will send employees to college for free.  He talked about how he was concerned about the rising cost of college and the debt it was creating for young people today.  He mentioned that we cannot wait on the government to fix the situation and that profits should not be the only goal of a corporation.  That got me thinking about the Chick-Fil-A.  This too is a company that does not seek profits as the end all be all. 

It is funny that these two corporations both have goals other than profits and have a sense of social responsibility.  Now, I am not saying these two corporations have all the same values because they do not.  However, both corporations have created a very positive environment in their stores.  This is a result of money not being the determining factor in all decisions. 

I am a huge fan of both places.  I have always been impressed with Chick-Fil-A's employees asking how they can serve you.  It might not seem like much but that is a very humbling statement and these days, humility is in short supply.  At Starbucks, the employees really do seem to take pride in their work and enjoy the place.  Pride in one's craft and enjoying work is also in very short supply these days. 

What is my point?  It is this, finding a purpose greater than money in life will lead to even better things.  If more corporations would find ways to help their employees and foster better environments then the world will be a better place.  Yes, I know that sounds like a statement from a third grader but it is so very true.  If everyone went into work, knowing that on some level the company took some interest in their well-being then maybe we would not have fast food employees out protesting to make $15/hour and CEO's would not crash companies into the ground by making greedy decisions just to walkout with a multi-million dollar severance package while the investors lose their life savings.  It starts with the leadership.  Schultz said in this interview that Starbucks is not just a coffee business but a people business.  If you go onto the Chick-Fil-A website, you would see they find ways to keep the environment clean.  They also offer scholarships to employees and help to send disadvantaged youth to college. 

These are not the only companies out helping others.  I do find it interesting that the founders of these companies are opposites politically.  Those on the right would demonize Starbucks for having a founder that supports Obamacare.  Those on the left would demonize Chick-Fil-A for having a founder that speaks out against gay marriage.  How about instead of painting people with the brush of politics (colors would be Fox News Red and MSNBC Blue), we start looking at how these people are leading the way in helping their fellow man?

Random ramblings

It's been about 4 weeks since I've started back to my lifting routine.  I was down with a rotator cuff strain/sprain whatever you want to call it...it hurt to move in certain ways.  I was scheduled to do a meet in May, had to drop out, which just so happened to rest of the team did the same actually, none of us represented our sponsors...good times there.

Anyway, this past week has seen some progress back in the garage on bench and squats, but dead lift is yet to be determined as I hesitate to really put myself under a lot of pressure just yet.  I hit 405 for an easy single on bench, and 475 for an easy single squat.  Tomorrow I'm contemplating, pending I get more than 3 hours asleep like last night, to work up to a moderately heavy dead left and see where we are.  I've got a chance to qualify for Nationals in October, I need to cut some weight and get my lifts back up, which I believe it's just getting back in the groove and hitting my paces again, muscle and strength are still there.

On a sadder note...I learned recently a man I well respected passed away.  Bob Ihlenfeldt aka "The Angry Coach".  I read a lot over at EliteFTS, anyone in strength and conditioning, dieting and nutrition should check out their plethora of articles.  EFS puts together some of the strongest, smartest individuals, and they put out article after article helping others for nothing.  Bob was one of those guys.  We wrote back and forth a few times in the past when I was going through some issues with my squat.  He always called it like he saw it, and how it honestly needed to be called.  He told me to quit being an asshole, and do what I needed to do.  Now, he didn't just tell me to stop being an asshole, he also gave tons of advice afterwards, and he'd never call me that unless it was what I needed, which it was.

Life passes too fast, and this game is way too short.  I think of all the time I spent in the gym, alone, doing my own thing and working my butt off for selfish reasons, and it makes me thankful for my wife and kids, and how they've embraced the same craziness I have, and joined me in my conquest to defeat death as long as we can.  We owe it to ourselves to do what we can to last as long as we can here.  Scratch that, we owe it to our kids, and our wives to last as long as we can.  If I think about going off course, or not working out, I think about my wife and being without me, and me without her, and I sprint (as fast as a fat man can) to the garage to get my workout in.  If you're overweight, or out of shape, and if you have the DESIRE to change, stop sitting around thinking about it, and get to work doing something every day to make yourself better.  It doesn't have to be those drastic changes all at once, that usually leads to unrealistic expectations, and failure.  Small changes, one step at a time. As Paul Carter says, Death is Winning...Do Something!

I leave you with this...The Scroll Marked III from Og Mandino's book "The Greatest Salesman in the World."

The Scroll Marked III

I will persist until I succeed.

In the Orient young bulls are tested for the
fight arena in a certain manner. Each is brought to
the ring and allowed to attack a picador who pricks
them with a lance. The bravery of each bull is then
rated with care according to the number of times
he demonstrates his willingness to charge in spite
of the sting of the blade. Henceforth will I recog-
nize that each day I am tested by life in like
manner. If I persist, if I continue to try, if I
continue to charge forward, I will succeed.

I will persist until I succeed.

I was not delivered unto this world in defeat,
nor does failure course in my veins. I am not a
sheep waiting to be prodded by my shepherd. I
am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep
with the sheep. I will hear not those who weep
and complain, for their disease is contagious. Let
them join the sheep. The slaughterhouse of failure
is not my destiny.

I will persist until I succeed.

The prizes of life are at the end of each journey,
not near the beginning; and it is not given to me to
know how many steps are necessary in order to
reach my goal. Failure I may still encounter at the
thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next
bend in the road. Never will I know how close it
lies unless I turn the corner.

Always will I take another step. If that is of no
avail I will take another, and yet another. In truth,
one step at a time is not too difficult.

I will persist until I succeed.

Henceforth, I will consider each day's effort as
but one blow of my blade against a mighty oak.
The first blow may cause not a tremor in the wood,
nor the second, nor the third. Each blow, of itself,
may be trifling, and seem of no consequence. Yet
from childish swipes the oak will eventually tum-
ble. So it will be with my efforts of today.

I will be liken to the rain drop which washes
away the mountain; the ant who devours a tiger;
the star which brightens the earth; the slave who
builds a pyramid. I will build my castle one brick
at a time for I know that small attempts, repeated,
will complete any undertaking.

I will persist until I succeed.

I will never consider defeat and I will remove
from my vocabulary such words and phrases as
quit, cannot, unable, impossible, out of the ques-
tion, improbable, failure, unworkable, hopeless,
and retreat; for they are the words of fools. I will
avoid despair but if this disease of the mind should
infect me then I will work on in despair. I will toil
and I will endure. I will ignore the obstacles at my
feet and keep mine eyes on the goals above my
head, for I know that where dry desert ends, green
grass grows.

I will persist until I succeed.

I will remember the ancient law of averages
and I will bend it to my good. I will persist with
knowledge that each failure to sell will increase
my chance for success at the next attempt. Each
nay I hear will bring me closer to the sound of yea.
Each frown I meet only prepares me for the smile
to come. Each misfortune I encounter will carry in
it the seed of tomorrow's good luck. I must have
the night to appreciate the day. I must fail often to
succeed only once.

I will persist until I succeed.

I will try, and try, and try again. Each obstacle
I will consider as a mere detour to my goal and a
challenge to my profession. I will persist and de-
velop my skills as the mariner develops his, by
learning to ride out the wrath of each storm.

I will persist until I succeed.

Henceforth, I will learn and apply another secret
of those who excel in my work. When each day is
ended, not regarding whether it has been a success
or a failure, I will attempt to achieve one more
sale. When my thoughts beckon my tired body
homeward I will resist the temptation to depart. I
will try again. I will make one more attempt to
close with victory, and if that fails I will make an-
other. Never will I allow any day to end with a
failure. Thus will I plant the seed of tomorrow's
success and gain an insurmountable advantage
over those who cease their labor at a prescribed
time. When others cease their struggle, then mine
will begin, and my harvest will be full.

I will persist until I succeed.

Nor will I allow yesterday's success to lull me
into today's complacency, for this is the great
foundation of failure. I will forget the happenings
of the day that is gone, whether they were good or
bad, and greet the new sun with confidence that
this will be the best day of my life.

So long as there is breath in me, that long will
I persist. For now I know one of the greatest prin-
ciples of success; if I persist long enough I will win.

I will persist.

I will win.

Five for One

The release of PFC turned SGT Bergdahl happened this past week and who would have thought an American being released from the Taliban would cause a political fight. Then again, what doesn't start a political fight. Someone yesterday asked me what I thought about the situation. My answer is not a clear cut one. This is not an easy situation to maneuver. We had an American who was captured by a group aligned with the Taliban. He was captured because either he wanted to be captured or was extremely stupid. He left his FOB alone without a weapon. People in his unit say that he had become disgruntled with the army and the mission in Afghanistan. There were soldiers killed on missions out looking for him. His father is against Gitmo and would like to see all detainees released. The Obama administration brokered a deal that exchanged Bergdahl for five detainees without notifying Congress as prescribed by law according to those in both chambers from both parties. This decision was unique and many fear that it will encourage more terrorist groups to kidnap Americans.

If I were to talk to Bergdahl, I'd tell him that he is a worthless solider and that he is not an NCO just because he has obtained a certain rank. No matter what was going on, leaving in the middle of a combat deployment was stupid and/or selfish. People were held over from seeing their families and some died. If he had issues with the treatment of the local Afghanis then he should have found a better course of action. Also, being captured was not his punishment for leaving his unit. That was a consequence for being alone in a combat zone without having a weapon. He still needs to answer for any UCMJ that he may have violated.

To his father, I'd say that while I sympathize with his view on Gitmo, I do not agree with releasing everyone of them. I do support them all having a trial. That is a fundamental right. I believe that 90 percent of every detainee is guilty. I would bet anything that at least one is innocent. It is not right to hold someone indefinitely without due process. There has been some progess in this area but it is still not where it needs to be. 

As for the law that Obama has broken, I do not believe it to be Constitutional. I do not know if this law has been upheld by the Supreme Court. I don't think this part of it has gone to them. If it has and they upheld it then they are wrong. There are separation of powers for a reason. The legislative branch cannot tell the executive who they can or cannot hold. Had these guys gone to trial and even found guilty then the president could pardon them. I do not see how this is different except they haven't even had a trial. As for the actual swap, I think it will lead us down a slippery slope. If another American is taken, the captors will request more to be released. As for the motivation of others to capture Ameicans, I do not think that has  increased. There are plenty out there that have had a 10 on that scale for a long time. 

I do not know what I would have done as the president in this situation. There was an American being held against his will. I think that getting Americans back must always be a top priority.  If my child was being held, I would no longer about anything but their release.

Why go through all of that...

"Why do you go through all of that?"

One idle Friday morning in a hotel room, with 3 boys and one other father on the school trip, I was asked by the father why I did what I did.  Why did I choose to wake up 45 minutes early, do push ups, sit ups, and stretch, and then pop enough pills and vitamins to put a drug dealer to shame?  I guess to me, this is like being asked why you have a certain religion, or a certain belief.  Chad touched on that on this post so I figured I would share my side of why I do what I do every day.

It's the internal reward I seek.  I don't need others to see how strong I am.  Yes, I compete among other lifters, yes this is frequently in public hotel banquet rooms open to everyone, and yeah, there are videos on the internet featuring some of my lifts, but without all of that, I would still get up early, stay up late, eat my vittles and make sure my protein content was high, fat content was moderate and carbs were scheduled around my lifting sessions.  I do it so that when I put that bar down, or come out of the hole in a personal best squat, I get to feel that feeling of satisfaction, of accomplishment, of success.  Realize there are some people who only experience this once in a while in their lives.  To me, that's just not enough.  I want to feel accomplished, I want to feel that I woke up today, and I did something awesome and I made my physical and mental being better.

My kids have taught me something very, very special. They taught me how to care and how to show others that they can accomplish more than they once thought possible if the proper amount of time and work is put in to achieve the goal.  It's imperative to have a little bit of ego, and a lot of self confidence when getting under the bar.  Last week, I was on my final set of squats, which I had for 3 reps.  I sat at the bar, took my grip, and placed the bar on my back.  I had a moment of quick doubt, so at this point everything stops for me.  I walk away. I take a moment and collect myself, get my mind right and prepare for war once again.  No negative thoughts permitted.  If you think you may fail, or you may get buried under the weight, you've already lost.  Even on lifts where I failed my attempt, I went in to it thinking I was the strongest person on the platform that day.  This lesson has taught our kids to strive for success, and that if they don't succeed at first, you get up, wipe yourself off and keep busting your rear to get what you want.  I used to want to bench 225, then I wanted to bench 275, 315, 365, 405, and each time I achieved my goal, I kept reaching.  The pursuit never stops.  My kids lift, they love it, and they've grown more in the past 6 months doing so than they have in a very long time.  They're a part of our group.  They're social, they're active, and they're learning to watch what they eat.  My youngest is so fascinated with his little bicep peaks, that he works HARD to get them bigger and bigger.  He's also cautious of his waist line.  He wants that V taper and he wants to have abs, so he eats healthy lean meats and proteins, and well...he's at least eating some veggies now with his dinner.

Sure, I'll probably have arthritis when I'm 50 or 60.  Sure there's a chance I may buckle under a 800 pound squat, but what if I don't?   This could relate to anything in our lives.  Relationships, religion, our career, anything.  Do we want to go in to something half committed?  Do we want to only skim the surface of excellence or should we strive to be the absolute best we can be?  I choose to push myself to the limit, really try to get everything out of life I can.  I love my life, and I love my self, that's why I choose to get up every day and push myself as far and as hard as I can.