Danelli "Paul Wagner" Basket Hilt Review

War on Boys

Helicopter parenting

Great lecture. You are not responsible for your kids' success: they are. This is what you are responsible for:

To conclude the lecture, Julie gave the audience the ultimate take away.  These are the two best things that each of us can do for our kids to help them become successful adults: 

1 – Give them chores.

2 – Teach them to love.

Really. It’s that simple.  And if you’re like me, your intuition has known it all along.  But here’s a little more research to back it up:
The longitudinal “Harvard Grant Study”  (one of the longest studies of humans ever conducted) found that success in life comes from having done chores as a kid.  The earlier the kid started, the better.  When our kids are too busy to do chores, we eliminate the biggest factor for success.  The Harvard Grant study also found that happiness in life equals LOVE.  Not passion, LOVE.  Love of people and love of human experience.  If there’s anything that we can do for our kids, it’s to teach them compassion, work ethic, and the love that can be found at home.

Somewhat rambling discussion of shooting aspects of the Lindt Cafe siege

Intriguing paragraph on Wikipedia:

Mitchell McAlister, who was a tactical assaulter with 2nd Commando Tactical Assault Group questioned the police use of M4A1 carbines with 5.56mm NATO rounds that could have "dangerous effects in a dense and enclosed environment."^[71] It was also unclear why 22 shots were fired by police, of which 13 hit Monis.^{[62][72][73][74]}

I am interested that something I have been wondering - I am in no way an expert - also wondered by someone who is an expert.

I question why counterterrorism police, supposedly world class etc. etc. - would use M4s firing .223. I could imagine that they might use a larger calibre with very light loads, or, more likely that they would use submachine guns firing pistol rounds. But to use .223 - incidentally firing what I suspect were loads way too hot for the job - I think would be the anti-sweet-spot. If I, armchair amateur that I am, were put on the spot and told to arm the counterterrorism police today, I would go with a submachine gun - long enough to supply accuracy but firing a pistol bullet, which is at least as large but more likely much larger but simultaneously much lower-powered. Of course, pistol bullets have their own problems - there is no guarantee they will put their man down, unlike, I would previously have said, a rifle bullet. (However we see that Monis required anywhere between 4 and 13 rifle bullets to put him down, not counting the bullets that missed.)

The bullets that missed - the police seem to supply us with more and more of them every day - are another intriguing thing. Before I begin, let me say that I am glad I was not one of those police officers. Let me also point out that shooting is a highly mental exercise and pressure has a huge influence on one's ability to shoot accurately: I know that the slightest pressure, such as from having made a poor shot previously, wreaks havoc on my shooting, and these guys were under the ultimate amount of pressure. To continue, however: these guys were not shooting pistols but rifles, and at ultra-short range. I can't imagine why they'd miss so many times. Once, sure. But 9-18 times?

Speaking of missing, apart from the one shot that killed poor Tori Johnson, every single shot fired by Monis missed.

This is possibly my all-time favourite piece of footage. A few incidental notes: 1. How far apart are some of the escapees? Actually if you look at all the escaped hostages, they seem miles apart. How does this happen? 2. How would you like to have been the woman at the back? She was pregnant, btw. 3. Don't you love it when the people in front of you can't run as fast as you? 4. The mental processes of the hostages in making the decision to run is fascinating. While I in no way blame them, and they should under no circumstances blame themselves, their escape it seems was the direct cause of Monis executing Johnson, triggering the police to enter, and the subsequent killing of Katrina Dawson. Actually, if you examine the psychology of the escapees, their escape was triggered by the fact that Jieun Bae and Elly Chen had opened the door and escaped and left the door closed bu unlocked, so it was their escape that could be said to have triggered the crisis. In the end, however, they did what the police couldn't bring themselves to do: bring the crisis to a head. One lesson I draw from this: The importance of keeping the hostages' spirits up. For this reason and others, this means that negotiating and being seen to negotiate is a vital thing to do, and the once thing the police really failed to do, or so it seems to me. Indeed, I would have thought that participating in negotiations would have been a vital plank of a containment strategy.

More importantly, this goes to show how important it is to practice shooting. I am told the police (regular police, not TOU) shoot 60 rounds per year in practice. 60 rounds is what a sporting shooter shoots in a single match. If a sporting shooter shot so few rounds a year, he would lose his licence, and rightly so. Yet "only the police should have guns". Who says the police are safe? We will examine that question in greater detail when we examine the Hornsby shooting.

Postscript

Quote by the same McAlister:

"The siege was isolated to the confines of the Lindt Cafe, which had me wondering why a weapon system such as an M4A1 was favoured over, say, the H&K MP5 or H&K MP5 variants."

Sales Lesson: Tile

Having recently lost my phone and wallet in quick succession, I decided it was time to stop being cheap and just get some Tiles or TrackRs. Of course I then had to procrastinate over the decision of which one. Then I saw a Tile ad on Facebook and clicked.

Well done Tile!

It took me to a nice clean website. I clicked on the 'How it Works' video. It seems great but what if it's my phone that is lost - no problem, click on any of your other tiles. I was sold!

Well done Tile!

I clicked on 'Buy'.

Well done Tile!

Do you want to pay more for this and that and the other thing? Now I have to think about it. I am in the sales page with my credit card in my hand and now I have to click back and search around to find out what 'slim' is etc. etc.

Stop being greedy with your price differntiation and just sell the thing.

Tile still might make a sale, but talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Longsword

Dead Can Dance

This is why trolling Facebook can sometimes be justified. Discovered Dead Can Dance. Kinda like mood music by The Tea Party.

Here is a classic album, Anastasis.

Had to look up 'anastasis'. It means 'resurrection'.