Chase the Rabbits

So, it's Friday night, and as usual, we need some sort of entertainment. Tonight's theme: fitness. Here's what happens when a computer geek meets a Navy SEAL for PT. It's not pretty. But does he learn? Oh no.

Comments

Re:No need for fitness!! - If you're young

[Caractacus Potts]

Boy, are you in for a surprise. Wait until you hit your late thirties. If you aren't in shape then, you can kiss those all-night programming sessions good-bye. I could sure use one of those medical breakthroughs right about now.

Re:too bad about the chemo therapy...

[MaxVlast]

Just because you smile doesn't mean that it's either funny or polite.

Only because you're a hypersensitive twit.

[nurightshu]

Okay, I've got karma to burn (not that lack of it's ever stopped me before).

Lighten the ever-loving fuck up! These guys are the salt of the earth -- I should know; I served in the military myself. And to rebut your histrionic simpering, I present the following points:

• [H]ow many people (innocents, no less) have been killed[?] Not nearly as many as you think. Innocents are protected under the Laws of Armed Conflict, and {God|Allah|Buddha|Bob} help the soldier caught harassing, molesting, or injuring a non-combatant. You will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Uniform Code of Military Justice -- and the time you'll serve in a federal military penitentiary is hard time.
• Uptight: Maybe sometimes...like when we're at fucking attention! If he's not in a formation, a soldier would much rather be sitting than standing, lying down than sitting, and asleep much more than awake.
• Anti-homosexual: You've got a little bit of a point there. However, I'm gay, and it never bothered my coworkers a bit.
• Redneck: Au contraire, the average soldier is much more likely to be a tough kid from the barrio or a New England swamp Yankee than a redneck, at least in my experience. The occasional redneck I dealt with was almost universally the subject of pity from his more erudite compatriots.
• Bloodthirsty: To borrow from Tom Clancy, "Most of the Marines I know prefer beer." The soldiers I've known who had real combat time didn't glorify their experiences in the least. War is a savage and brutal act, the final extension of foreign policy, and its practitioners are sometimes required to undertake dangerous or distasteful tasks. Nonetheless, sometimes diplomacy fails (in the current case, when a bunch of religious zombies decided to turn the deaths of thousands of innocent people -- of all nations -- into a bloody public statement of hatred). When it does fail, soldiers must make war with justice, practiced skill, and swift surety, but never with unchecked agression.
• Automatons: The ultimate soldier is one who is capable of making intelligent and rational decisions with a minimum of oversight from his chain of command. Although ultimately responsible to his superiors for his actions and the actions of those under his command, a soldier must have the capacity to operate independently of his superiors, and the wisdom to meet the mission goals with his operations plan. Automatons are what other nations use as cannon fodder.

Have Afghan civilians died? Certainly. That's the nature of war. Sometimes people die in combat. Sometimes those people have done nothing wrong. But the goal of the United States is not the wholesale slaughter of innocents; to the contrary, we've gone out of our way to ensure their safety time and again. And as for Israelis slaughtering Palestinians, I'd call the last, oh, 96 hours or so in Israel a pretty good indication of who the aggressors are. While one side attempts to negotiate in good faith, the other side is setting of suicide bombs in public places. Who's the good guy to you?

Next time you want to whimper about how terrible the U.S. military is, remember that their mission is to act as guarantors of freedom not merely for the U.S., but for the world. Sometimes the mere threat of their use is enough to cause aggressive individuals to reconsider. Sometimes we actually have to show the intestinal fortitude to use them. And sometimes, every once in a while, I wish they'd call in airstrikes on idiot hippies like you.

Re:Only because you're a hypersensitive twit.

[MadFarmAnimalz]

And as for Israelis slaughtering Palestinians, I'd call the last, oh, 96 hours or so in Israel a pretty good indication of who the aggressors are. While one side attempts to negotiate in good faith, the other side is setting of suicide bombs in public places. Who's the good guy to you?

Let me join you in karma burning. I think this post is worth the trouble.

First, my bias to give you something to guage by: I'm half Arab half Scandinavian; lived half my life in the middle east, and I do now.

A few points:

1. You have no grasp of the facts on the ground. I do. Please read up on history first and seek the other side's bias first to better draw your own conclusions.

2. Your world view is a little too simplistic to be constructive. There are only good guys and bad guys in elementary school and Hollywood. The peace process gets derailed every time someone starts looking for 'good guys' and 'bad guys'.

3. Slashdot works better when we keep the politics out of it. Or, at least, the misinformed politics. Your post surprised me because I was under the impression that most shashdotters take the trouble to verify what the mainstream media has to say about issues.

Sayonara karma; you have served me well.

from the article

[nomadic]

Interesting thing of note - Instructor Walston has done an Ironman Triathlon - Without the bike. He RAN 141 miles in one day. Can you imagine that?

To be honest, no, I can't imagine that. It's highly improbable.

The New York City marathon is 26 miles, and the winner usually does it in about 2 hours; and is completely wiped out. I believe it's quite impossible to run 141 miles in a single day, even for a world class runner.

Coincidentally, the Marathon des Sables in Morocco is 141 miles as well, and that takes 7 days to run.

As a reward for your hard work...

[theCURE]

why don't you buy yourself one asskicking!?

PAIN IS PLEASURE!
gogogo!

Odd overtones

[lkaos]

There are really two types of geeks:

The first is the simpsons watching, game playing, cube farm dwelling geek who likes lots of remote controls and whose programming is limited to the stuff at work.

The second type are the ones who do devote 110% of themselves to something they love.

Four day straight coding binges, countless hours of research and self-education IMHO far exceed the effort put forth by soldiers for one simply reason. There is no instructor screaming at this person to force them to give so much.

Don't get me wrong, I do have a great deal of respect for people who can go through this, but I am a little disturbed at the suggestion that this being a geek simply means that one gives "50%" of themselves and sits around playing with their cats all day.

That instructor may seem like a tough guy, but in reality, how does his efforts make the world a better place? Sure, the military is important, but militaries are only relavant to the present. Colin Powell may be remember as a great leader, perhaps for a few decades, but I truely believe that Richard Stallman will have a place in history as a revolutionary (atleast, for a century or so).

Re:Odd overtones

[miracle69]

The second type are the ones who do devote 110% of themselves to something they love.

It should be noted that to become a Navy Seal, or a member of any other branch of the U.S. Armed forces, one must volunteer .

I'd recommend things like this to anyone.

[zapfie]

This reminds me a lot of my time on our schools crew team.. We haven't gone through what this guy did, but we go through hell and go through it together. When I started, I joined because I wanted to get in shape. However, what I have gotten out of it is the ability and willingness to push myself to new levels, and the chance to be able to be part of a true team. Yes, it sucks, but it is extremely rewarding. To anyone out there who has never really done something like crew or PT training, I would highly recommend it. The first few weeks will be hell (so will the rest of it, but you'll be used to it by then), but it will end up being one of the most rewarding things you have ever done for yourself.

Re:Sure, I'll sign up

[Anonymous Coward]

Just some friendly words of advice: mechanical constraints are not the right approach, you'll (perhaps even subconsciously) find a way around them. You must enforce with your willpower.