Author: Chris
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A proof of why war chickens come home to roost.
A few weeks ago my daughter asked me to help her come up with topics for a persuasive speech she had to write and deliver in her sophomore English class. After she dismissed all the good ones (“Why the war on drugs is a scam”…she thought that would get her kicked out…”Why all Catholics would…
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Every target matters – this weekend's IDPA match GoPro video
We had about 20 show up for this weekend’s IDPA match. I think I’m finally (18 months in) starting to get into a groove for planning, setup and administration to the point that I can actually enjoy the match and shoot well without being all stressed out about being the RSO. Time and a few…
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Learning from the past on 9/11
Three years ago, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks I shared my 9/11 story. I wasn’t in New York or DC on that day, nor did I know anyone that was killed, but 9/11 is very personal for me nonetheless. However, on this anniversary my mind is not focused on…
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iWatch needs to cut the apron strings before it's really going to be useful
I watched the tech crunch live blog of the Apple presser today on the side on my screen while I was working. My short take: I will finally pull the trigger (and sign away another two years of my life to ATT) and upgrade my aging and broken iPhone 4 to one of the two…
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Starting today: home education
The Kelley Family home school education center officially opened for business today. After a long period of discussion, investigation and thinking, today we officially withdrew my son from the private K-12 school he had been attending since first grade. The motivations were numerous: First and foremost its something that our son wanted to do. He asked…
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The work – money – consumption cycle (or "I had a dream")
I composed this post almost entirely in a dream the night before last. Seriously. I wrote most of it up in the hour or so after I woke up, finishing it up this morning (busy day yesterday…). Since my dreams usually consist of the physically impossible and discontinuous as a metaphor for something my sub…
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Reading some St. Augustine
Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies? For what are robberies themselves, but little kingdoms? The band itself is made up of men; it is ruled by the authority of a prince, it is knit together by the pact of the confederacy; the booty is divided by the law agreed on.…
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Dealing with disappointment
For me, the hardest part about dealing with disappointment is the post-disappointment self flagellation. I usually don’t dwell for too long on the source of the disappointment, either the thing I wanted that I didn’t get or the thing I didn’t that I did. Rather, my inner perfectionist rears its ugly head and I beat…
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The post I meant to write about Ferguson
This post started out life very differently than it’s appearing here now. It was all about the false choice we are being presented with (support the police/damn the rioters or support the protestors/damn the cops) and the lack of critical thinking being displayed on both sides in Ferguson. It was a pretty long post, one…