Stephanie Vance asked:

ve Olympic fever. OK, maybe it’s not quite a fever: more like a mild agitation. Nevertheless I have stayed awake way past my bedtime for several nights watching the athletes swimming, flipping, spinning, lifting, shooting and smacking (as in volleyball) their way to greatness.

Naturally, all this has got me to thinking about what the events at an “Advocacy Olympics” might involve (I’ll admit that some of the late nights involved a glass of wine or two). What amazing feats do advocates and their coaches need to undertake to be gold medal winners in the process of advocacy? What kinds of events do they need to endure? Read on!

The End of Session Dash

Get ready. Get set. Go! Upon its return in September, Congress will have less than 4 weeks to finalize ALL 13 appropriations bills. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this is not going to happen. Be emotionally prepared for government by continuing resolution for the foreseeable future. You heard it here first.

Nevertheless, there will be a flurry of activity as elected officials return from meeting with what will likely be some pretty cranky constituents during August. How does the effective advocate prepare for this event? By building positive relationships throughout the year so that when the policy ideas are flying fast and furious your relevant legislators know to contact you with any questions.

Medalists in the “End of Session” dash will have conducted many “workouts” throughout the year, including: o Sending personalized e-mail and written communications o Building relationships with staff people (find out who they are by calling your legislators’ office or go to www.congress.org) o Conducting site visits. o Attending in-district townhall meetings (contact your elected official to find out what they have scheduled!)

Don’t be that sad person who came in fourth. Start thinking about developing those skills today!

The “Get That Bill Passed” Balance Beam

Was anyone else amazed at the performance of Shawn Johnson of the U.S. Women’s Olympic team on the balance beam? While it seemed like everyone else wobbled (and in a few cases fell off) she conducted her routine as if she were on solid ground.

That’s the essence of the “get that bill passed” balance beam event as well. Any time we undertake to change policy, whether it’s to alter a law, increase funding levels for a favorite program or revise the application of a regulation, a balance must be struck.

Effective advocates will prepare for this event by figuring out what kinds of compromises might be acceptable in exchange for furthering their cause. In almost every situation some level of give and take will be required. If you want to medal in the “get that bill passed” balance beam, you will accept that reality and continue to move forward as if on solid ground.

Synchronized Legislating

The U.S. Government and nearly all 50 states (except you, Nebraska) have bicameral legislatures. This means that BOTH houses (the House or Assembly and the Senate) have to pass the exact same versions of legislation before they can become law. That’s why the skill of “synchronized legislating” is so essential to effective advocacy, particularly at the federal level, where legislation can merrily move along in both houses at the same time.

To prepare for the synchronized legislating event, advocates should be working with both houses and both sides of the aisle early and often. Too often, groups rely on one “champion” to get something done – only to find they have no support in the other house. Successful advocates will take the “depth and breadth” approach by building deep and positive relationships with a range of policy makers from all walks of life.

Team Advocacy

Whether it’s throwing a ball into a hoop, batting a ball out of the park, knocking a ball over a net or, well, you get the point, many successful Olympic athletes are part of team. And, come to think of it, even many of the so-called “individual sports” have their team elements, such as team gymnastics or swimming and running relays. Michael Phelps, for example, would not have earned his gazillionth gold medal without the inspiring last leg of Jason Lezak in the Men’s 4 x 100 meter relay.

What does this mean for advocates? Basically, you aren’t going to get very far in the Advocacy Olympics without your team, so think carefully about how you can develop and nurture that support network. You might look to identify other team members through your association, in your community or even online by forming groups on social networking sites like Facebook or Myspace.

The Policy Pentathlon

Ah, yes. One of my favorite events. The modern pentathlon requires athletes to excel in five different sports, specifically fencing, shooting, swimming, horse show jumping and cross country running. As I understand it, the event is intended to replicate the activities a cavalry officer must excel at in order to survive a battle. These days, of course, the modern pentathlon should include wiretapping, understanding an array of foreign languages and building secure internet connections.

But I digress. My point here is that to medal in this event at the Advocacy Olympics you’ll need to excel at a range of different policy and advocacy approaches. At first, you may be developing a personalized e-mail or letter. Then you might set up a visit, deliver testimony or participate in a lobby day. Or, you might get really crazy with an editorial board or letter to the editor approach. The most successful advocates have laid the groundwork so that they can be prepared to switch approaches at a moment’s notice. So be sure you have all the horses, swords, air pistols and swimming gear you need to make it through all the battles of a legislative session.

If you follow these techniques you’ll be standing on the winner’s podium in no time listening proudly to the effective advocacy anthem. What might that be? I vote for “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” from the Rolling Stones, but am open to suggestions.

Caffeinated Content

Muna wa Wanjiru asked:

An air gun is a pneumatic gun which shoots projectiles by using compressed air or other high pressure gas as a propellant.

Modern air guns are usually low-powered because of safety reasons and legal limitations. They can drive a pellet beyond 330 m/s, approx. the speed of sound. Most low-powered air guns can be securely fired in a garden also. In some countries, it is illegal to use them in residential areas. Air guns can be highly accurate and are used in the Olympic Games.

There are different ways of supplying power to an air gun. They can be classified into 3 groups: spring-piston, pneumatic, and CO2.

Spring-piston: Spring-piston air guns can attain muzzle velocities close to the speed of sound from a single stroke of a cocking lever. The cocking stroke is related to the power of the gun with higher velocities require larger cocking effort.

Spring-piston guns are operated by a spring loaded piston within a compression chamber. Cocking the gun compresses the spring until a small hook engages the sear. When the trigger is pulled, the sear is released which decompresses the spring and the piston is pushed forward, compressing the air. When the air pressure increases enough to overcome friction, the pellet moves forward.

Spring guns have disadvantage of large recoil and spring vibrations. The vibrations can be controlled by adding spring guides or by tuning by air gun smiths.

Pneumatic: Pneumatic air guns make a use of pre-compressed air as the energy source. Single-stroke and multi-stroke guns use a pump for pressurizing air. These reservoirs are filled by using a high pressure hand pump (reaching pressures of 300 bar) or by transferring air from a diving cylinder. Hence, there is no major movement of heavy parts and recoil is only ‘true recoil’.

Multi-Stroke pneumatic air guns require 2 to 10 pumps to store compressed air. Through this, variable power is possible and the user can change the power for different shooting ranges. The higher quality rifles can shoot to speeds above 1000 fps.

In single stroke guns, one motion of the cocking lever is sufficient to compress the air. The single pump system is usually used in target rifles and pistols, where the higher energy of a multi-stroke is not needed.

Pre-charged Pneumatic: Pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) air guns can be used for competition and hunting. Because of the cylinders or charging systems, PCP guns have larger initial cost but very low operating costs when compared to CO2 guns.

CO2: Most CO2 guns use a disposable cylinder, pre-filled with 12 grams liquefied CO2 and some expensive models use larger refillable CO2 reservoirs.

These guns have 2 key advantages over pre-charged guns: (1.) a small volume of liquid converts to a large volume of pressurized gas. (2.) No pressure regulator.

air pistol

Mr. Ashok Sharma asked:

TENZIN GYATSO, 14TH DALAI LAMA –“I believe violence will only increase the cycle of violence.”

TENZIN GYATSO, THE DALAI LAMA –“Spend some time alone every day. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.”

TERENCE- “As each one wishes his children to be no they are.”

TERENCE –“You will have words for your punishment, but for me there will be blows.”

TERRY PRATCHETT –“Light thinks it travels faster than any thing but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.”

TERRY PRATCHETT –“Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don’t find out till too late that he’s been playing with two queens all along.”

TERRY WAITE –“The terrible thing about terrorism is that ultimately it destroys those who practice it. Slowly but surely, as they try to extinguish life in others, the light within them dies.”

TEXAS GUINAN –“A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.”

TH HUXLEY –“The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land.”

THACKERAY –“Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.”

THACKEREY –“Next to the very young, I suppose the very old are the most selfish.”

THALES –“The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.”

THALES- “The most universal thing is hope.”

THAOMAS HARDY- “As everybody knows, fine feathers make fine birds.”

THAYER –“As are families, so is society. If well ordered, well instructed, and well governed, they are the springs from which go forth the streams of national greatness and prosperity… of civil order and happiness.”

THE ART OF HAPPINESS –“The Dalai Lama replied: I think there are two kinds of desire. Certain desires are positive. A desire for happiness. It’s absolutely right. The desire for peace… But at some point, desires can become unreasonable. That usually leads to trouble… Self-satisfaction alone cannot determine if a desire or action is positive or negative… I think excessive desire leads to greed… When you reflect upon the excesses of greed, you’ll find that it leads an individual to a feeling of frustration, disappointment, a lot of confusion, and a lot of problems… Although the underlying motive is to seek satisfaction, the irony is that even after obtaining the object of your desire, you are still not satisfied. The true antidote of greed is contentment.”

THE ARTHASHASTRA –“It is difficult, though not impossible; to stop government officials from hiding their corrupt take.”

THE BEATLES –“And when the brokenhearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be. For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see, there will be an answer. Let it be. Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.”

THE BERLIN DECLARATION –“For centuries Europe has been an idea, holding out hope of peace and understanding. That hope has been fulfilled.”

THE BLIDDKO –“What you are is what you have been, and what you will be is what you do now.”

THE BOOK OF DRUIDRY –“Grant, 0 God, Thy Protection; And in protection, strength; And in strength, understanding; And in understanding, knowledge; And in knowledge, the knowledge of justice; And in the knowledge of justice, the love of it; And in that love, the love of all existences; And in the love of all existences, the love of God. God and all goodness.”

THE BRAHMA VIHARCIS –“May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes, May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes, May all sentient beings never be separated from bliss , without suffering, May all sentient beings be in equanimity, free of bias, attachment and anger.”

THE CHRISTMAS ALPHABET –“C is for the candle sticks around the Christmas tree H is for the happiness with all the family P is for the reindeer dancing by the windowpane I is all the icing on the sweets, the cakes, the sugar cane S is for the stocking on the chimney wall T is for the toys beneath the tree so tall M is for the mistletoe where everyone kissed A is for the angels who up the Christinas-list S is for old Santa who brings everyone a gift.”

THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING –“No man should be judged by others here in this life, for the good or evil deeds that they do. Nevertheless deeds may lawfully be judged, but not the men, whether they be good or evil.”

THE COLUMBIA ENCYCLOPEDIA –“According to Shankara, the ultimate reality is Brahman or the Self, which is pure reality, pure consciousness, and pure bliss. The world has come into be ing from Brahman and is wholly dependent on it. The criteria of reality are immutability and permanence. Since the world is constantly changing, and since its existence is not absolute but dependent on Brahman, the world is called illusion or maya. Brahman exists as the Absolute, without qualities (nirguna), and also exists with qualities (saguna) as a personal god, Ishvara, who presides over the world of appearance.”

THE COMPLETE ANGLER –“Look to your health; and if you have it, praise God, and value it next to a good conscience; for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of; a blessing that money cannot buy.”

THE CURE D’ARS –“Humility is to the virtues what the chain is to the rosary; remove the chain, and all the beads escape; take away humility, and all the virtues disappear.”

THE DHAMMAPADA –“Conquer the angry man by love. Conquer the ill-natured man by goodness. Conquer the miser with-generosity. Conquer the liar with truth.”

THE DHAMMAPADA –“One is one’s own destiny. Therefore one should train oneself.”

THE ECONOMIST –“Confronted by Asia’s technological rise and the financial crisis, corporate America is losing its self-confidence. It should not.”

THE ECONOMIST –“Modest proposals are better than grand designs: They serve the political function of registering concerns, but are too small to provoke opposition.”

THE GOLDEN AGE OF ZEN –“Spring has its hundred flowers,/ Autumn its moon,/ Summer has its cooling breezes,/ Winter its snow./ If you allow no idle concerns/ To weight on your heart,/ Your whole life will be one/ Perennial good season.”

THE GOSPEL –“Jesus said: Whoever knows the All but fails to know himself lacks everything.”

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW –“Then Peter began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, don’t know the Man!”

THE GOSPEL, STTHOMAS –“Raise the stone and there thou shall find me. Cleave the wood and there am I.”

THE HITOPADESA –“The spirit in thee is a river. Its sacred bathing place is contemplation; its waters are tr
uth; its banks are holiness; its waves are love. Go to that river for purification; thy soul cannot be made pure by mere water.”

THE HOLY BIBLE –“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God give the thee.”

THE IMITATION OF CHRISTY –“Some there are who resign themselves, but with exceptions: for they put not their whole trust in God, therefore they study how to provide for themselves.”

THE INTERVAL –“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”

THE KINKS –“Girls will be boys and boys will be girls/It’s a mixed up muddled up shook up world.”

THE LORD’S PRAYER –“Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

THE MOTHER –“Nothing, not even the darkest falsehood can stop the ultimate triumph of truth…. To stand for the truth in all circumstances, to declare it if necessary in the teeth of the worst opposition and to be ready to do all you can for its sake, is the definition of heroism.”

THE MOTHER, PONDICHERRY –“Never grumble. All sorts of forces enter you when you grumble and they pull you down. We find in others what is in us… If we always find mud around us, it proves that there is mud somewhere in us.”

THE MYSTERY PLAY –“God is in the details, after all. Or… perhaps, the details are in God.”

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY –“A work in progress, the Earth still shakes with the forces of creation. Earthquakes occur when shifting pieces of the surface overcome friction at their edges and cause the ground to shudder — with sometimes disastrous results.”

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY –“Seen from the safe distance of a satellite, it can be a thrilling spectacle. But as anyone caught in the middle of a hurricane knows, the place that poets call Mother Earth is not always such a gentle parent. Extreme weather events… are expressions of a living planet, still changing after billions of years of existence.”

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY –“When they occur at sea, earthquakes can generate seismic waves called tsunamis, which travel great distances at speeds equalling those of commercial jetliners. Tsunamis are barely noticeable —often just ripples on the surface — until they approach shores, when they become monsters.”

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY –“Wildfire — an ancient lord of the wilderness — can create life as well as destroy it. Destructive outbreaks in recent years due to changing climate and human activities have revived controversies over how best to manage forests.”

THE PANCHATANTRA –“Inspect a matter with utmost care before jumping to conclusions and rushing headlong into actions; else, bitter remorse is let loose.”

THE PANCHATANTRA –“When enterprise is a man’s second nature, Mount Meru is not too lofty, The Abyss not too low, nor the Great Ocean impassable. Perseverance, not wishes, gets work done; deer do not walk into the mouth of a sleeping lion.”

THE PANCHATANTRA –“Who are friendly? What’s the cost, and what’s the gain? Time and again, one should ponder over these.”

THE PEORIA JOURNAL STAR –“Not dead to us who loved him, -Not lost but gone before; He lives with us in memory, and will for evermore.”

THE PERFECTION OF WISDOM –“When a ship is wrecked at sea, those who do not hold onto a timber, a plank, or other solid support will drown in the water, never reaching the shore. Subhuti, those that do hold onto a timber, or plank, or other solid support will not drown in the water Happily unhindered, they may reach the shore, where they will stand safe and sound on firm ground. Similarly, Subhuti, a bodhisattva who is endowed with a full measure of faith and purity, of kindness and intentions, but without taking hold of the perfection of wisdom, can fall along the way Not reaching all-embracing knowledge, he remains only a disciple, or a pratyekabuddha.”

THE PHILOSOPHY OF PLOTINUS –“A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he cannot sit on it.”

THE QUOTE GARDEN –“You cannot discover the purpose of life by asking someone else – the only way you’ll ever get the right answer is by asking yourself.”

THE SERENITY PRAYER –“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

THE SEVEN VALLEYS AND THE FOUR VALLEYS –“0 my brother! A pure heart is as a mirror; cleanse it with the burnish of love and severance from all save God, that the true sun may shine within it and the eternal morning dawn.”

THE *** PISTOLS –“When there’s no future how can there be sin? Were the flowers in the dustbin.”

THE SIRI SINGH SAHIB –“There is no liberation without labour and there is no freedom which is free.”

THE SOPHIC HYDROLITH –“For let me tell you that he on whom the Most High has conferred the knowledge of this Mystery (of transmutation) esteems mere money and earthly riches as lightly as the dirt of the streets. His heart and all his desires are bent upon seeing and enjoying the heavenly reality of which all these things are but a figure.”

THE SPLENDOUR –“Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn! Look to this Day! For it is Life, the very Life of Life. In its brief course lie all the Verities and Realities of your Existence. The Bliss of Growth, The Glory of Action,”

THE TALMUD –“A dream that is not interpreted is like a letter that is not read.”

THE TALMUD –“A parent should never make distinctions between his children.”

THE TALMUD –“He who is without a wife •dwells without blessing, life, joy help, good, and peace.”

THE TALMUD –“Let thy house be a place of meeting for the wise, and dust thyself with the dust of their feet, and drink their words with thirst.”

THE TALMUD –“Never exposes yourself unnecessarily to danger, a miracle may not save you, and if it does it will be deducted from your share of luck or merit.”

THE TALMUD –“The noblest charity is to prevent a man from accepting charity; and the best alms are to show and to enable a man to dispense with alms.”

THE TALMUD –“We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.”

THE TALMUD –“When a man has compassion for others, God has compassion, for him.”

THE TALMUD –“Would that life were like the shadow cast on a wall by a tree, but it is like the shadow of a bird in flight.”

THE TAO OF NEGOTIATION- “Conflict in and of itself is not a negative experience…. It is how we choose to respond to conflict that determines whether its effect will be positive or negative…”

THE UPANISHADS –“Who sees all being in his own self, and has own self in all beings, loses all fear.”

THE VEDAS –“At first there was neither Being nor Non-being. There was not air nor yet sky beyond. What was its wrapping? Where? On whose protection? Was Water there, unfathomable and deep?”

THE WASHINGTON POST –“As the 2006 (US) campaign staggered to an angry close, national security and the Iraq war dominated the final-day debate of midterm elections.”

THE WISDOM OF THE SUFIS –“A sprinkling note of mirth Cascades from heaven to ear
th: 0 weary hearts be gay, this is your day today.”

THE XIV DALAI LAMA –“Compassion and love are not mere luxuries. As the source both of inner and external peace, they are fundamental to the continued survival Of our species.”

THE XIV DALAI LAMA –“We cannot learn real patience and tolerance from a guru or a friend. They can be practiced only when we come in contact with someone who creates unpleasant experiences. According to Shantideva, enemies are really good for us as we can learn a lot from them and build our inner strength.”

THE XTV DALAI LAMA –“Disregard for our natural inheritance has brought about the danger that now threatens the peace of the world…. Such destruction of the environment and life depending upon it is a result of, ignorance, greed and disregard for the richness of all living things. This disregard is gaming great influence. If peace does not become a reality in the world and if the destruction of the environment continues as it does today, there is no doubt that future generations will inherit a dead world.”

THEBEATLES –“And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

THEODONE MHESBUEGH –“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.”

THEODORE GEISEL –“I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”

THEODORE H. WHITE- “The flood of money that gushes into politics today is a pollution of democracy.”

THEODORE M. HESBURGH –“Faith is not an easy virtue but in the broad world of man’s total voyage through time to eternity, faith is not only a gracious companion, but an essential guide.”

THEODORE ROETHKE –“What the world needs are more people who specialize in the impossible.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT -“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT- “ A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car, but if he has a university education he may steal the whole rail road.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT- “ No man is above the law and no man below it: nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT –“A sound body is a first-class thing; a sound mind is an even better thing; but the thing that counts for most in the individual as in the nation is character, the sum of those qualities which make a man a good man and a woman a good woman.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT –“Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT –“In doing your work in the great world, it is a safe plan to follow a rule I once heard on the football field: Don’t flinch, don’t fall; hit the line hard.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT –“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows I achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT- “No man is above the law and no man below it: nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT –“Power undirected by high purpose spells calamity; and high purpose by itself is utterly useless if the power to put it into effect is lacking.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT- “The most successful politician is he who says what everybody is thinking most often and in the loudest voice.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT –“THE ONLY MAN WHO NEVER MAKE MISTAKES IS THE MAN WHO NEVER DOES ANYTHING.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT –“Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell them, Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.”

THEODORE ROSZAK –“People try non-violence for a week, and when it “doesn’t work”, they go back to violence, I .which hasn’t worked for centuries.”

THEODORE TILTEN –““Struck with palsy, sore and old, / Waiting at the gates of gold, /Said he with his dying breath/ “Life is done, but what is Death?”/ Then an answer to the king/ Fell a sunbeam on his ring; / Showing by a heavenly ray, / “Even this will pass away”.”

THESE ARE BRAHMA’S WORLDS –“Fourteen worlds beginning with Patala and ending with Satya are evolved out of the five elements.”

THICH NHA THANH –“Meditation is not to escape from society, but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. With mindfulness, we know what to do and what not to do to help.”

THICH NHAT HANH –‘Walking meditation is like eating. With each step, we nourish our body and our spirit. When we walk with anxiety and sorrow, it is a kind of junk food. The food of walking meditation should be of a higher quality. Just walk slowly and enjoy a banquet of peace.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“After you wake up, you probably open the curtains and look outside. You may even like to open the window and feel the cool morning air with the dew still on the grass. But is what you see really “outside”? In fact, it is your own mind. As the sun sends its rays I through the window, you are not just yourself. You are also the beautiful view from your window. You are the Dharmakaya.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“All of us have the power to change the situation if we care to practice mindful walking, mindful! breathing to encourage the energy of mindful- I ness and to practise looking deeply to understand. Because understanding when it comes, will liberate us. It will help us to get rid of our anger, our **** and so on. And love is something that can only be born on the ground of understanding. Prajna and karuna are words that point to the same reality Where there is understanding, prajna, there is love. Where there is true love, maitri and karuna, there already exists prajna. Where there is no understanding, there is no true love.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“All phenomena — the song of a bird, the warm rays of the sun, a cup of hot tea — are manifes- tations of the Dharmakaya. We, too, are of the same nature as these wonders of the universe.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“Dharmakaya literally means the’body’or kaya of the Buddha’s teachings and Dharma), the way of understanding and love. Before passing away, the Buddha told his disciples, “Only my physical body will pass away. My Dharma body will remain with you forever.” In Mahayana Buddhism, the word has come to mean “the essence of all that exists”.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“Happiness is only possible with true love. True love has the power to heal and transform the situation around us and bring a deep meaning to our lives.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“If you look
deeply into impermanence, you will do your best to make her happy right now. Aware of impermanence, you become positive, loving and wise. Impermanence is good news. Without impermanence, nothing would be possible. With impermanence, every door is open for change. Impermanence is an instrument for our liberation.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“If you suffer, it is not because things are impermanent. It is because! you believe things are I permanent. When a flower dies, you don’t suffer much, because you understand that flowers are impermanent. But you cannot accept the impermanence of your beloved one, and you suffer deeply when she passes away.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos the trees, the clouds, everything.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“Meditation is not to escape from society, but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. With mindfulness, we know what to do and what not to do to help.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“Meditation is not to escape from society, but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“Nothing remains the same for two consecutive moments. The Buddha implored us not just to talk about impermanence, but to use it as an instrument to help us penetrate deeply into reality and obtain liberating insight. We may be tempted to say that because things are impermanent, there is suffering. But the Buddha encouraged us to look again. Without impermanence, life is not possible. How can we transform our suffering if things are not impermanent? How can the situation in the world improve? We need impermanence foil social justice and for hope.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“Opening the window, I look out onto the Dharmakaya. How wondrous is life! Attentive to each moment, my mind is clear like a calm river.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong…Why not try arid see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?”

THICH NHAT HANH –“People today tend to take refuge in overwork so they can avoid confronting their inner turmoil.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But i think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognise: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the .black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“That path is you. That is why it will never tire of waiting Whether it is covered with red dust, autumn leaves, or icy snow, come back to the path. You will be like the tree of life. Your leaves, trunk, branches, and the blossoms of your soul will be fresh and beautiful, once you enter the practice of Earth Touching.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“The empty path welcomes you, fragrant with grass and little flowers. Walk leisurely, peacefully. Your feet touch the earth deeply. Don’t let your thoughts carry you away. Come back to the path every moment.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“The practice of peace and reconciliation is one of the most vital and artistic of human actions.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“Water flows from high in the mountains Water runs deep in the Earth Miraculously, water comes to us, And sustains all life.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughts an actions should express our mind of compassion even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“When we open the window and look out onto the Dharmakaya, we see that life is infinitely marvellous. At that very moment, we can vow to be awake all day long, realising joy, peace, freedom and harmony throughout our lives. When we do this, our mind becomes clear like a calm river.”

THICH NHAT HANH –“You are me, and I am you. Isn’t it obvious that we “inter-are”? You cultivate the flower in yourself, so that i will be beautiful. I transform the garbage in myself, so that you will not have to suffer I support you; you support me. I am in this world to offer you peace; you are in this world to bring me joy.”

THICH NHAT HANT –‘It is not by going out for a demonstration against nuclear missiles … but with our capacity of being peace that we can make peace.”

THICH NHAT HANT –‘It is not by going out for a demonstration against nuclear missiles … but with our capacity of being peace that we can make peace.”

THICK NHAT HANH –“Keeping your body ‘ healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos — the trees, the clouds, everything.”

THICK NHATHANH –“Dissolve Thoughts Meditation is not to escape from society but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. With mindfulness, we know what to do and what not to do to help.”

THIMVALLUVAR –“The chief blessing is an honourable home and its crowning glory is worthy offspring.”

THOLUCK –“There is not a more repulsive spectacle than an old man who will not forsake the world, “which has already forsaken him.”

THOMAS A EDISON –“Non-violence leads to the highest ethics which is the goal of evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.”

THOMAS A KEMPIS –“0 everlasting Light, far surpassing all created things, send down the beams of Your brightness from above, and purify, gladden, and illuminate in me all the inward corners of my heart.”

THOMAS A. EDISON – “Fail? I haven’t failed! I now know 3,800 ways not to make an electric storage battery.”

THOMAS A. EDISON – “Until we stop harming all other living being, we are still savage.”

THOMAS A. EDISON –“Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent.”

THOMAS A. EDISON –“Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.”

THOMAS A. EDISON –“Fail? I haven’t failed! I now know 3800 ways not to make an electric storage battery.”

THOMAS A. EDISON –“I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

THOMAS A. EDISON –“If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves.”

THOMAS A. EDISON –“If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.”

THOMAS A. EDISON –“If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will change a past or future event, then you are residing on another planet.”

THOMAS A. EDISON –“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

THOMAS A. EDISON –“Mr. Edison, please tell me what laboratory rules you want me to observe.” Edison: “There ain’t
any rules around here. We’re trying to accomplish somet’n!”

THOMAS A. EDISON –“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

THOMAS A. EDISON –“The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn’t like to do.”

THOMAS A. EDISON –“There’s value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God, we can start anew.”

THOMAS A. EDISON- “Until we stop harming all other living being, we are still savage.”

THOMAS A. EDISON:- “Fail? I haven’t failed! I now know 3,800 ways not to make an electric storage battery.”

THOMAS A. KEMPIS- “Thy peace shall be in much patience.”

Thomas a.KEMPIS- “First keep the peace within your self, than you can also bring peace to others.”

THOMAS ADAMS –“Those bottled windy drinks that laugh in a man’s face and then cuts his throat.”

THOMAS AQUINAS –“Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate.”

THOMAS AQUINAS –“Far graver is it to corrupt the faith that is the life of the soul than to counterfeit the money that sustains temporal life.”

THOMAS ARNOLD –“Probably the happiest period in life most frequently is in middle age, when the eager passions of youth are cooled, and the infirmities of age not yet begun: as we see that the shadows, which are at morning and evening so large, almost disappear at midday.”

THOMAS B. ALDRICH –“To keep the heart unwrinkled, to he hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent — that is to triumph over old age.”

THOMAS BABBINGTON MACAULAY –“Large promises, smooth excuses, chicanery, perjury, forgery are the weapons, offensive and defensive, of the people of the Lower Ganges.”

THOMAS BERRY –“Gardening is an active participation in the deepest mysteries of the universe.”

THOMAS CARLYLE –“All that mankind has done, thought, gained, or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books.”

THOMAS CARLYLE –“He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.”

THOMAS CARLYLE –“Laissez-faire, Supply-and-demand, — one begins to be weary of all that. Leave all to egoism, to ravenous greed of money, of pleasure, of applause: it is the Gospel of Despair!”

THOMAS CARLYLE –“Laughter is one of the very privileges of reason, being confined to the human species.”

THOMAS CARLYLE –“Silence is as deep as eternity; speech, shallow as time.”

THOMAS CARLYLE –“Silence is more eloquent than words.”

THOMAS CRANMER –“Almighty and everlasting God, you **** nothing that you have made, and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent. Create and make in us new and contrite hearts that lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, we may receive from you, the God of all mercy, perfect forgiveness and peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

THOMAS CRUM –“Being willing to change allows you to move from a point of view to a viewing point – a higher, more expansive place, from which you can see both sides.”

THOMAS DALY –“Truth is a shining goddess, always veiled, always distant, never wholly approachable, but worthy of all the devotion of which the human spirit is capable.”

THOMAS ELLIOT- “It is by no means self-evident that human beings are most real when most violently excited; violent physical passions do not in themselves differentiate men from each other; but rather tend to reduce them to the same state.”

THOMAS FULLER- “Adversity is easier borne than prosperity forgot.”

THOMAS FULLER –“Contentment consists not in adding more fuel, but in taking away some fire.”

THOMAS FULLER –“He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven.”

THOMAS FULLER –“He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.”

THOMAS FULLER –“Health is not valued till sickness comes.”

THOMAS FULLER- “Honest men fear neither the light nor the dark.”

THOMAS FULLER- “Honesty is fine jewel but much out of fashion.”

THOMAS FULLER –“If it were not for hopes, the heart would break.”

THOMAS FULLER- “Law governs man and reasons the law.”

THOMAS FULLER –“Never ant weary traveler complained that he come too soon to his journey’s end.”

THOMAS FULLER –“Some have been thought brave because they were afraid to runaway.”

THOMAS FULLER –“Where villainy goes before, vengeance follows after.”

THOMAS GRAY –“The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea, The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me.”

THOMAS H. HUXLEY –“The great end of life is not knowledge but action.”

THOMAS HARDY –“I traversed a Dominion Whose spokesmen spake out strong Their purpose and opinion Through pulpit, press, and song…. I saw, in web unbroken, Its history out wrought Not as the loud had spoken, But as the mute had thought.”

THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY –“The great end of life is not knowledge but action.”

THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY- “Veracity is heart of morality.”

THOMAS HEYWOOD –“The world’s a theatre, the earth a stage, Which God and Nature do with actors fill.”

THOMAS HOBBES- “No arts, no letters, no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.”

THOMAS HOOD –“The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think.”

THOMAS HUSHES –“He never wants anything but what’s right and fair; only when you come to settle what’s right and fair, it’s ‘ everything that he wants and nothing that you want.”

THOMAS HUXLEY –“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, I when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.”

THOMAS HUXLEY –“The chess board is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the Universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature and the player on the other side is hidden from us.”

THOMAS J CARLISLE –“Help us to harness the wind, the water, the sun, and all the ready and renewable sources of power. Teach us to conserve, preserve, use wisely the blessed treasures of our wealth-stored earth. Help us to share your bounty, not waste it, or ******* it into peril for our children or our neighbours in other nations. You, who are life and energy and blessing, teach us to revere and respect your tender world.”

THOMAS J PETERS –“Celebrate what you want to see more of.”

THOMAS J PETERS –“The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity.”

THOMAS J WATSON –“If you want to achieve excellence
you can get there today As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.”

THOMAS J WATSON SR. –“Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of ‘crackpot’ than the stigma of conformity. And on issues that seem important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost. If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.”

THOMAS J WATSON SR. –“The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas and enthusiasm.”

THOMAS J WATSON SR. –“Within us all there are wells of thought and dynamos of energy which are not suspected until emergencies arise… Quotas, when set up for us by others, are challenges which goad us on to surpass ourselves. The outstanding leaders of every age are those who set up their own quotas and constantly achieve them.”

THOMAS J WATSON SR. –“You must guard constantly against those who lack vision. You must guard against the reactionary mind. Always cultivate and associate with persons of vision and with persons who believe that things are going to be better. When you do this, you take on the kind of vision, backed by the right kind of inspiration, that you need if you are going to grow in this business or any other business.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON – “Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on office, rottenness.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON- ‘I hope our wisdom will grow with our power and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.’

THOMAS JEFFERSON –“I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater/it wills him.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON -“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON –“If people let governments decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON –“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON –“It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON –“It is not by the consolidation, or concentration, of power, but by their distribution that good government is effected.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON –“No government can continue good but under the control of the people.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON –“No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another… the laws ought to restrain him.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON –“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON –“The sword of the law should never fall but on those whose guilt is so apparent as to be pronounced by their friends as well as foes.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON –“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON –“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

THOMAS JONES –“Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.”

THOMAS KE/Z –“Teach me to live, that I may dread the grave as little as my bed.”

THOMAS KINKADE –“Balance, peace, and joy is the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognising your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them.”

THOMAS MACAULAY –“The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.”

THOMAS MALTHUS –“A great emigration necessarily implies unhappiness of some kind or other in the country that is deserted.”

THOMAS MANN- “He who loves most is the vanquished and must suffer.”

THOMAS MANN- “I shall need to sleep three weeks on end to get rested from the rest I’ve had.’

THOMAS MANN –“Love is like a violin. The music may stop now and then, but the string remains forever.”

THOMAS MANN –“Time goes, you say? Ah, no! Alas, Time stays, we go.”

THOMAS MANN –“Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols.”

Thomas mann- “We came out of the dark and to go into the dark again and in between lie the experiences of our life.”

THOMAS MANN –“We should know how to inherit, because inheriting is culture.”

THOMAS MERTON –“And when the faculties are empty, then your whole being listens. There is then a direct grasp of what is right before you that can never be heard with the ear or understood with the mind. Fasting of the heart empties the faculties, frees you from limitations and from preoccupations.”

THOMAS MERTON –“At the centre of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind, or the brutalities of our own will.”

THOMAS MERTON –“In the last analysis, the individual person is responsible for living his own life and for “finding himself”. If he persists in shifting his responsibility to somebody else, he fails to find out the meaning of his own existence.”

THOMAS MERTON –“It was said of Abbot Agatho that for three years he carried a stone in his mouth until he learned to be silent.”

THOMAS MERTON –“Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed.”

THOMAS MERTON –“The beginning of love is to let those we love be themselves, and not twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves in them.”

THOMAS MERTON –“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another and all involved in one another.”

THOMAS MERTON –“We cannot be happy if expect to live all the time at the highest peak of intensity Happiness is not a matter of intensity; but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.”

THOMAS MOORE –“Every one should know that you can’t live in any other way than by cultivating the soul.”

THOMAS MOORE- “Though an angel should write, still ‘tis devil must print.”

THOMAS MORE –“These things, good Lord that we pray for give us Thy grace to labour for.”

THOMAS NASHE –“Heaven is our heritage, Earthbuta players’ stage.”

THOMAS PAINE –“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”

THOMAS PAINE –“I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavouring to make our fellow creatures happy.”

THOMAS PAINE –“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”

THOMAS PAINE –“Reputation is what men and women think of us. Character is what God and angels know of us.”

THOMAS PAINE –“The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.”

THOMAS PAINE –“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”

THOMAS PAINE- “When the people fear the government, you have tyranny; when the government fears the people, you have freedom.”

THOMAS PETERS & ROBERT WATERMAN, JR. –“The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity.”

THOMAS R DEWAR –“Minds are like parachutes: they only function when open.”

THOMAS SOWELL –“Given that some social processes must convey inherent constraints, the Choice is among various mixtures of persuasion, force, and cultural inducement. The less of one, the more of the others. The degree of freedom that is possible is therefore tied to the extent to which people respond to persuasion or inducement.”

THOMAS SOWELL –“Given that some social processes must convey inherent constraints, the choice is among various mixtures of persuasion, force, and cultural inducement. The less of one, the more of the others. The degree of freedom that is possible is therefore tied to the extent to which people respond to persuasion or inducement.”

THOMAS SOWELL –“The first lesson of economics is scarcity There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.”

THOMAS SZASZ –“A child becomes an adult when he realises that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong.”

THOMAS SZASZ –“Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence.”

THOMAS SZASZ –“The self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates.”

THOMAS SZASZ –“When religion was strong and science weak. Men mistook magic for medicine, now when science is stronger and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic.”

Thomas szazs- “If you talk to god, you are praying; if god talks to you, you have schizophrenia.”

THOMAS TUSSER- “Come some, some go; this life is so.”

THOMAS W CRONIN –“”It’s unbelievably beautiful”, said Shiela. “I always thought a really beautiful place had to be green and rolling, with hills and valleys and lakes, and the sea pounding on rocks and beaches —”You mean like Ireland?” All right, I’m prejudiced”, said Shiela. “I always thought a place had to be something like that to be really beautiful. But this (on Mars) is an altogether different kind of beauty a rare red beauty, and so quiet and peaceful too”. “I agree”, said Don, “it’s one continuous pleasure just to look at it. I could stay here forever”. “But pleasure isn’t the only feeling I get looking at it”, said Shiela. “I also feel I’m like a fly that’s just landed on an exquisitely beautiful spider’s web — waiting for the spider to show up”.”

THOMAS. A. KEMPIS –“Love is being able to walk arm in arm … even when you don’t see eye to eye.”

THOMSON –“Come, gentle Spring, ethereal mildness, come; And from the bosom of yon dropping cloud, While music wakes around, veiled in a shower Of shadowing roses, on our plains descend.”

THONAS JAFFERSON- “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.”

THOREAU –“I never found the companion that was as companionable as solitude.”

THOREAU –“Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify.”

THOREAU –“The reader is nowhere raised into and sustained in a higher, purer, or rarer region of thought than in the Bhagavad Gita… Beside (it), even our Shakespeare seems sometimes youthfully green and practical merely.”

THORNTON WILDER –“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”

THORSYEIN VEBLEN- “Conspicuous leisure and consumption… in the one case it is a waste of time and effort, in the other it is a waste of goods.”

THUCYDIDES –“The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is courage.”

THUPTEN RINPOCHE –“To develop true compassion, first we must know that suffering is real, and that sufferings hurt.”

THUR HUGH CLOUGH- “Grace is given of God, but knowledge is born in the market.”

TIBULLUS –“Father Nile, why or in what lands can I say you have hidden your head? On your account your Egypt never sues for showers, nor does the dry grass bow to Jupiter the rain-bringer.”

TIERNOBOKAR –“The beauty of the rainbow is due to the variety of its colours. In the same way, we regard the voices of the different believers which rise from all parts of the earth as a symphony of praises on behalf of God who can only be one.”

TIM CLARK –“Leadership is influencing others to do the right thing.”

TIM DU BOIS –“Always be “work in progress”.

TIM MCGRAW –“We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.”

TIM O’LEARY –“You are as old as the last time you changed your mind.”

TIM WILEY –“Where you end up isn’t the most important thing. It’s the road you take to get there. The road you take is what you’ll look back on and call your life.”

TIMOTHY –“If any one purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel consecrated and useful to the Master of the house, ready for any good work. So shun youthful passions and aim at righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart.”

TIMOTHY LEARY –“We are dealing with the best-educated generation in history. But they’ve got a brain dressed up with nowhere to go.”

TIMOTHY THOMAS FORTUNE –“Mob law is the most forcible expression of an abnormal public opinion; it shows that society is rotten to the core.”

TIMOYHY LEARY –“Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.”

TIORIO –“it is better to be old-fashioned and right than to be up-to-date and wrong.”

TIRUMANTIRAM –“I’ll wreathe Him in garland. I’ll hug Him to heart. I’ll sing Him His name and dance with gifts of flowers. Singing and dancing, seek the Lord. This alone I know.”

TITUS L CARUS –“As children tremble and fear everything in the blind darkness, so we in the light sometimes fear what is no more to be feared than the things children in the dark hold in terror and imagine will come true.”

TITUS M PLAUTUS –“Where there are friends, there is wealth.”

TL MENCKEN –“Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice.”

TN TIEMEYER –“A man can make money but not vic
e versa.”

TOBIAS GEORGE SMOLLETT –“Who bravely dares must sometimes risk a fall.”

TOLKIN, J.R.R. –“Never laugh at live dragon.”

TOM BOBBINS –“We’re our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.”

TOM BRADLEY –“The only thing that will stop you from fulfilling your dreams is you.”

TOM CONNELLY –“He who asks a question may be a fool for five minutes, but he who never asks a question remains a fool forever.”

TOM HANKS –“Life is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get.”

TOM HANNAH –“Tolerance and celebration of individual differences is the fire that fuels lasting love.”

TOM LEHRER- “Life is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put in to it.”

TOM LEHRER- “Life is like A SEWER. What you get out of it depends on what you put in to it.”

TOM MULLER –“Happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the ones we marry.”

TOM PETERS –“Formula for success: Under promise and over deliver.”

TOM PETERS –“Leave no one out of the big picture. Involve everyone in everything of any consequence to all of you.”

TOM ROBBINS –“Human beings were invented by water as a device for transporting itself from one place to another.”

TOM ROBBINS –“There are many things worth living for, there are a few things worth dying for, but there is nothing worth killing for.”

TOM ROBBINS –“We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.”

TOM SNYDER –“If we’re not supposed to eat animals, how come they’re made out of meat?”

TOM STOPPARD –“Every exit is an entry somewhere else.”

TOM STOPPARD –“If an idea’s worth having once, it’s worth having twice.”

TOM STOPPARD- “Life is a gamble at terrible cost- if it was a but, you wouldn’t take it.”

TOM WAITS- “Hell is boiling over, and heaven is full, we’re chained to be the world and we all gotta pull.”

TOM WILSON –“Mosquitoes remind us that we are not as high up on the food chain as we think.”

TOM WILSON –“Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself.”

TOMMY LASORDA –“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in determination.”

TONI MORRISON –“A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves — a special kind of double.”

TONI SCIARRA POYNTER –“You don’t need to be on the same wavelength to succeed in marriage. You just need to be able to ride each other’s wave.”

TONY BENNEWORTH- “It’s been a very show and dull day, but it hasn’t been boring. It’s been a good, entertaining day’s cricket.”

TONY BLAIR –“I have not suddenly woken up this week and decided that this is important. It seems a bit unfair for people to think so.”

TONY BLAIR –“The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.”

TONY BLAIR –“The principles of the Sikh faith are inspiring — equality, an obligation to help those who are less fortunate than themselves, tolerance and respect for other individuals, communities and faiths. During the festival of Baisakhi, we can all reflect on the valuable role that the Sikh community plays in Britain and the Sikh contribution to our economy, society and national life.”

TONY ROBBINS –“Success is the result of good judgment, good judgment is result of experience, experience is often the result of bad judgment.”

TONY SNOW –“Many people don’t give a rip about politics and know as much about public affairs as they know about the topography of Pluto.”

TORAH –“Then the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

TRADITIONAL HINDU PRAYER –“I prostrate to the dawn/dusk lamp, whose light is the Knowledge Principle (the Supreme Lord), which removes the darkness of ignorance and by which all can be achieved in life.”

TRAVIS ENGEN –“We know that the profitable growth of our company depends on the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of our communities across the world. And we know it is in our best interests to contribute to the sustainability of those communities.”

TREY PARKER AND MATT STONE –“Living is having ups and downs and sharing them with friends.”

TRILOKINATH RAINA –“Whether my words have meaning tomorrow, Tomorrow’s critics will decide; But I’ll find the gushing waters eternal If they relieved you of present pain.”

TRYON EDWARDS –“He that never changes his opinion never corrects mistakes and will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today.”

TRYON EDWARDS –“Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it.”

TSAO-HSUEH-CHIN “Women… are made of water, with clear and mobile minds, while men are mostly made of mud, mere lumps of unformed clay.”

TULKU THONDUP –“In order to help or heal others, we must first gain the benefit of healing blessings ourselves. It is like wanting to give money to a needy person: first we must have or make some money, because only then can we give it away The best spiritual training is to serve the needs of others, the mother beings, with no selfish motivations. That means that our purpose in generating peace and joy in ourselves must be for the sake of others, or at least that must be our aim. Thus we must create and feel peace and joy in ourselves with no hesitation. When we have gained these benefits, we must share them with others, with the greatest joy. If we have peace, spontaneously all our words and actions will be expressions of peace and joy. Then, even if we are not actively sharing peace or trying to help others, our good qualities will still have a positive effect on many around us.”

TULSIDAS –“As a word and its meaning, water and its wave are said to be different but are not, I do homage to the feet of that Sita-Rama.”

TULSIDAS –“’Bin sateang vivek na hoye, Ram kripa bin sulabh na soye’ — Without satsang, vivek or the power to discriminate does not come. It is difficult to obtain vivek without the grace of Rama and without participating in satsang. It is tough to live in this jungle we call life.”

TULSIDAS –“Thou art Brahnm, I am Jiva. Thou art Master, I am servant. Thou art father, mother, guru, friend And well-wisher in all respects. From the different relationships between you and me, Acknowledge that which you prefer, So that Tulsi can somehow Take shelter at your merciful feet.”

TUPAC SHAKUR –“Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.”

TURKISH PROVERB –“A fool dreams of wealth; a wise man, of happiness.”

TURKISH PROVERB –“A fool dreams of wealth; a wise man, of happiness.”

TYRON EDWARDS –“Age does not depend on years, hut upon temperament and health. Some men are horn old, and some never grow so.”

TYRON EDWARDS
–“Some men are born old, and some never seem so. If we keep well and cheerful we are always young, and at last die in youth, even when years would count us old.”

TZES SILESIUS –“Man, if thou wishes to see God, there or here on earth. Thy heart must first become a pure mirror.”

UCILLE S HARPER –“The nice thing about egotists is that they don’t talk about other people.”

UDANA –“He who successfully fulfils his vow Of continence in body and in mind, And has achieved the final knowledge, he Acquires the right to declare To others who would walk the Path; he may Give to himself the n

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Carmelita Moore asked:

There’s a vast range of airsoft handguns and pistols on offer. As with most things in life there are always some favourites that never really change over time. Like Airsoft Sniper Rifles as an example, there’s a certain something about airsoft rifles that their owners simply can’t explain. The dream of owning your own M16, G36 or AK47 is something that some of the other people will never understand. The surprising thing about most airsoft rifles is that they’re actually quite heavy and very well built. They’re designed to be an almost exact copy of the original firearm in every possible way – which in turn gives you an idea of what it would be like to handle the real thing.

The quality and features of your airsoft replica will depend on your budget. There are three basic types of airsoft guns – differences and approx. expenses are listed below:

Spring Airsoft Guns:

Spring powered airsoft guns differ from the other gas powered and electric powered airsoft guns because they are a single shot or spring cocked devices much like a real shotgun or bolt action rifle. The user has to **** the spring by pulling back the slide or bolt before firing each shot. Though they may not be very suitable for close combat competitions, they are widely used for “sniper” and “marksman” functions.

Electric Airsoft Guns (AEG):

The electric airsoft gun, also known as AEG (Airsoft Electric Gun) these are the top of the range when it comes to airsoft guns. Each AEG has a tiny but very powerful motor inside which powers the firing mechanism. There is still a spring inside an AEG but this is controlled by the electronic motor to achieve high rates of fully automatic fire. One of the really neat things about this type of airsoft gun is that it can be loaded with miniature paintballs. A word of warning however – if a paintball breaks inside an AEG it can clog up the entire firing mechanism meaning you’ll have to strip the gun down and clean it.

Gas powered Airsoft Guns:

Gas powered models add one immediate feature – automatic fire. With a gas powered airsoft rifle or pistol you don’t need to **** the gun each time because it has a gas charge built in. These are far more powerful than most spring airsoft guns and slightly more expensive. This extra power comes at an added expense – the gas needs to be refilled. This can be achieved with co2 cartridges or a portable hand pump. For the added expense gas airsoft guns definitely feel more like the “real thing”.

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Benedict Smythe asked:

You may have the speed, the right strategies, and a well organized team but you need more than that when you go into a paintball battle field. You need fire power. You need the best paintball gun that you can get your hands on.

If you are aiming to win you have to examine the paintball guns closely when you purchase them.

The most important thing to consider when purchasing a paintball gun is its firing system, you can choose from an electro-pneumatic, mechanical, or gas powered firing system. Here’s how we differentiate these firing systems:

Electro-pneumatic

This firing system depends on an onboard battery which provides the electrical power which moves gears inside the paintball gun that will **** and fire the piston. This piston makes the blast that sends a paintball into the air towards its target.

The electropneumatic paintball guns are capable of multiple shots. You can choose from 3-shot bursts, or 6-shot bursts, or you can go fully automatic when going for an ambush or a chase.

The paintball guns under this class can rapidly shoot 300-900 paintball rounds per minute. They also do not just boast of the rapid fire power but also of velocities ranging from 200 to 400 feet per second which definitely can send someone squirming if hit by a single shot.

Mechanical Power

The mechanical firing system is also referred to as the spring type. Most of the guns under this class are single shot paintball guns. Most paintball gun users use a gun with a blowback system when using a spring powered gun. A blowback system uses the excess air to **** the gun for the next shot.

Fire power is not the name of the game for the mechanical or spring firing system since it is a notch lower compared to the electro-pneumatic. It fires with a velocity ranging from 200 to 275 feet per second. Not that great but it will still hurt.

Gas Powered

Paintball guns under this class use pressurized gases like propane or refrigerants like HFC134a to shoot paintballs.

Most of the gas powered paintball guns can be set to fire on automatic or semi-automatic mode since they also make use of a blowback system. The excess air which triggers the system is also used to re-cock the slide the fires the paintball.

Choosing the Right Gun

Now that you know about the firing systems that can eject paintballs in speeds that you can not imagine possible, you also have to consider the different sizes, configurations, designs, styles, and the cost.

You have to consider how you will move around the field when you carry a gun. You also have to consider the type of game that you usually engage in.

As a paintball enthusiast you can choose from pistols to semi-automatics and fully automatics. Pistols are usually used as a back-up gun when something goes wrong with your main weapon. You can opt for long paintball firearms that you can switch from automatic to semi-automatic as your main weapon. These guns will serve you good for running assaults and attacking your opponents’ home base.

Buying a gun also depends on the budget that you can spend. You can get a gun for as low as $100 but can also find the best of the best at around $1000 minimum.

Knowing that you have the right gun fire power somehow boosts your confidence in the field. It also makes winning a lot easier and sweeter.

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Sarah Porter asked:

Airsoft Guns Accessories!

While paintball was the competitive, weekend sport of the last few years, airsoft guns are leading the next wave of a fun past time that can be enjoyed safely by a large number of people all at one time. That game is Airsoft and before you start forming your own team now might be a good time to start learning more about the history of these weapons.

The Background of the Airsoft Gun

Airsoft rifles, http://www.softairpro.com/airsoft-rifles/ actually got their start in Japan during the 1970′s. In Japan, real guns had been mad illegal but that didn’t stop the desire in some from having a weapon they could shoot for fun. To meet that need, a couple of manufacturers started creating airsoftguns which were designed to look like real guns and which were capable of shooting BB’s. Over the years, the airsoft pistols, http://www.softairpro.com/airsoft-pistols/ became more standardized and continued to increase in popularity in Japan and other parts of Asia.

After a recession in the Japanese economy caused many of the companies making airsoft shotguns to close down, those that remained and came after started making new developments and improvements to the products which eventually led to them becoming popular in North America. Today, a wide variety of these air soft weapons are available on this side of the Pacific Ocean and the use of them is becoming increasingly popular.

The Use of Airsoft Arms

The main use for the airsoft rifle is to play a competitive game similar to paintball. Teams of competitors armed with these guns can go into areas and play a variety of types of the games, including a skirmish mode. It’s essentially the real-life equivalent of a first person shooter video game. Skirmish is the most popular version of the game and usually involves dressing up in battle apparel, going to a remote area (woods, farms, or similar areas work very well) where they can exchange fire without interference from non-players.

Although skirmish is a popular use of electric airsoft rifle, some players prefer military simulations. In these games, the teams actually roles play as if they were real military squads fighting against one another. One might consider it the mature version of cops and robbers or cowboys and indians.

Regardless of which type of game is played, most airsoft guns accessories, http://www.softairpro.com/airsoft-accessories/ don’t leave any marks when a hit is made. That means competition relies on the honor system and usually the call of a judge who watches the competition. Although some pellets do include paint, these are not very popular with people who are serious about the game because of the potential damage they can do to the equipment and because using them shows a lack of trust towards the other competitors.

When using airsoft guns for any purpose, having the proper airsoft gear, http://www.softairpro.com/airsoft-accessories/airsoft-gear.htm airsoft magazines, http://www.softairpro.com/airsoft-accessories/airsoft-magazines.htm airsoft targets, http://www.softairpro.com/airsoft-accessories/airsoft-targets.htm and safety equipment are important. Although the pellets are not as dangerous as real bullets, they can pack a punch at close range so protecting your eyes and other sensitive body parts is a necessity so injuries don’t ruin your good time.

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Smit Mathur asked:

Drill finds its utility in almost all modern woodwork, metalwork and construction activities. An electric drill is any day more popular than a manual drill. To define, drill a tool used to make holes using the rotating drill bit run by electric power or manually. It can also be used as a ***** driver by adding a screwdriver tip to it.

Drills come in various varieties depending upon the need. It includes hammer drills, corded drills, cordless drills, drill press and so on. The selection process of a drill can be long at times, especially in the case of lack of knowledge. While choosing a drill you must the following points in mind:

Material to be drilled

It is important to understand the nature of the material to be drilled, as it will positively affect your choice of drill. If the material is hard it would require with more torque tool with less speed. However a faster one can be used for softer materials. You may select a drill with variable speed. It enhances your options of its usability.

Power Supply

Electric Drills are available in both corded and cordless forms. The corded drills have the advantage of higher rotating force. Thus, these can be used on tougher materials. They also don’t have the trouble of battery discharge. Lastly, due to lack of battery, they are lighter than cordless drills.

On the other hand, cordless drills give you high mobility, a feature of intense use in home and outdoor setups. The cordless power drills also give you great manoeuvrability.

Weight and Handle Grip

The weight of drill surely affects your efficiency. The drill you select must be compatible for long-time handling by not putting extra stress on your wrist and arms. For this, you can experiment with your drills by holding them just above your eye level for as long as possible. It will give you idea of its weight in actual working conditions.

To match the working conditions, drills are available in three shapes or handle styles: T-handle, right angle and pistol grip. The weight is equally distributed to front and rear in the popular T-handle drills. This makes it usable for longer durations. The right angle drills on the other hand provide greater agility. Pistol grips are a better option for swift action.

Manufacturer

Picking up a branded drill has its own benefits. A DeWalt cordless drill will surely give you better results than its local counter part. Moreover, durability should not be sacrificed for price. The spare parts availability and post purchase benefits also must be kept in mind.

 

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Doug Nicholson asked:

For most Officers new to “the job”, it can be a daunting and confusing time. You will be told 10 different ways to do each and every task, and will be expected to keep everyone happy all the time. You will wonder at the fact that you spent 6 months at a Police Academy and yet you have not been taught some of the most basic things expected of you, nor made aware of some of the amazing and horrific things Police have to deal with.

 

There is no quick & easy advice for new Officers, but we’ll try to relate some of the most important aspects that have been learnt the hard way.

 

Attending Incidents

 

Unless asked by your senior partner to deal with an incident, your first few weeks / months on the road should be dealt with by doing this – Mouth shut, eyes & ears open. That’s it. The last thing you should be doing while your senior partner is dealing with a job is asking them minor  questions, or telling him / her, “But in the Academy we were told this.” 

 

Additionally, if members of the public / suspects are in hearing distance, do NOT use first names to address your partner. Their rank or even “partner” are the correct address. It’s about professionalism and not giving people ammunition to use against you.

 

However do not be afraid to ask a question at the right time, as there is nothing worse than someone fumbling through something when it could be done right and efficiently after one question.  There is a time and a place for questions though like back in the vehicle or station.

 

Don’t assume anything, anytime. Keep your eyes and ears open, and constantly think “what if”. Too many times I saw Officers get their notebooks out as soon as they got out of their vehicles, which meant not only were their hands occupied, but they were concentrating on taking notes instead of assessing the situation.

 

Awareness

 

It doesn’t matter where you are, or what you are doing. If you are outside of the Police Station, whether you are in your vehicle or on foot, by yourself or with 100 other Officers, stay aware of your surroundings! You should be looking around you every 3 seconds. You should be looking over your shoulder every 5 seconds or so. Whether you are inside a house or in the middle of a busy street…look around you. If you are working with a “switched-on” partner, then you should try to stand so that you can look behind your partner, and they can look behind you, thereby watching each other’s backs.

 

Colleagues

 

Telling tales, gossiping, or spreading stories about other Officers can be damaging to their careers. DO NOT DO IT. If you hear someone else gossiping about an Officer, ask them to stop. As Police Officers, you should deal with facts, and should not spread lies and half-truths about colleagues like old women cackling over a back fence. This is a pervasive problem in all jurisdictions.

 

Look after your partner. If you don’t understand why he/she did something then ask them. Don’t go running to the Station OIC just because you don’t agree with how your partner did something. Policing can be stressful enough as it is, so try not to make it worse by joining in the back-stabbing and unfair criticism that happens everywhere. Be supportive of your colleagues 100% of the time. You’ll realise how much it helps when that support is returned.

 

Communication

 

This section is extremely important.

 

When you speak into the Police radio, you must remember that there is another person at the other end trying to work out what you are saying. Before you use a radio, think about what you are going to say. Take a breath, and then key the microphone. Wait a full second before you start talking. It is very common for Officers to start talking before they key the microphone, which means the person at the other end has no idea who you are or what you just said.  This can be compounded by background noise such as wind past windows, crowds, music, sirens or your own panting after wrestling someone down.

 

If you’re giving vehicle license plate details, telephone numbers, or spelling of a suspect’s name over the radio, do NOT just blurt everything out in one quick spiel, but break it up. Remember the person at the other end? They’re trying to write / type down what you are saying, so make it easier for them, and for yourself, as you won’t have to repeat what you just told them. 

 

The easiest way to give out information like that is break it up into groups of three. The license plate 123.ABC will be given over the radio as “Queensland rego 123”…pause….”ABC.” The spelling of “Venderhoef” will be given as “I spell surname, Victor, Echo, November…pause…..Delta, Echo, Romeo…..pause….Hotel, Oscar…pause… Echo, Foxtrot, over.” Since not everything breaks up into three, use common sense, and break the last section into groups of two. Remember to give out information on the radio as if you were on the other end writing it down.

 

Don’t tie up the air-waves either. A short break every now and then should be used, such as between names, just in case someone is trying to get urgent assistance. If you have not finished giving all the information out, merely state “more to follow” at the end of your transmission and wait for the operator to tell you to continue. This permits the operator to finish what they are typing or writing, and allows other units to come up if they need urgent assistance.

 

One of the most-ignored areas by Police recruits during training is communicating with people. This is a shame as it is your biggest advantage in doing your job. I recall a few years back being called on duty into CIB as two of our Officers had a vehicle try to run them over after a Police pursuit. Fortunately they only suffered minor bruising, but the offender was lucky he wasn’t shot. Anyway, a number of General Duties were on the lookout for this bloke, and naturally enough he wasn’t home. He was hiding and I was given the investigation.

 

I rang his girlfriend. I identified myself, and she hung up on me. I rang her again an hour later and just talked to her. I wasn’t overbearing, or commanding, but I was talking to her as a person. After about 30 minutes of just talking with her, she put the offender on. I had made her comfortable enough to believe I wasn’t going to send the boys in to hurt her man. Then I spoke to him. I didn’t lie to him. I told him he would be arrested. I told him we had to speak to him about what happened. I didn’t lie, threat, nor did I promise him anything. I treated him with basic respect. What happened? His girlfriend drove him to the Police Station where he handed himself in. All because I spoke to him as a person and did not lie.  The worst thing you can be accused of as a Police Officer is being a liar or being dishonest.  Do NOT make the assumption that the criminal intelligence system of word of mouth is not as effective, if not more so, than our own.

 

The vast majority of times, just showing people basic respect will get the results you want. This does NOT mean you need to faun or grovel. You can still give people orders, directions etc and disagree with them, but do not show disrespect. Here’s another example.

 

My partner and I turned up at a Domestic job. As is commonly the case, the male was the loudest and most aggressive of the couple. I told him to come outside, while my partner stayed inside with the woman, (but we were both in sight of each other). The male ke
pt threatening me and demanding to go inside. But even though he was verbally threatening me, there was no matching body language. He was angry, and he needed to vent. That’s human nature.

 

I didn’t grovel with him, or threaten him, but stated repeatedly what was happening. I told him, “There is no way I’m letting you back in there while you’re angry. We are required to separate both of you, and there’s a distinct possibility that we may take further action. But I’m not letting you back inside while you’re angry.”

 

This bloke was still threatening me and started “chesting” me. Again, even though my adrenalin had dumped, I could tell he was just venting. I knew what his emotions were. I knew he felt a need to show his anger, and I was the only target in front of him. He was not trying to hurt me, nor was his body language threatening. Although technically I could have arrested him for assaulting me, what was the point? My job was to calm him down, not fight him.

 

Eventually, we arrested him for assaulting his partner, but after my communication with him, he had calmed down enough to willingly be arrested. What struck me the most though, was when we got him into the watch house, he turned to me, put out his hand, and said, “Mate, you’re a better man than me. I’m sorry I was a *****. You treated me with respect. Thank you.” 

 

You are going to ask them what happened, so is there any harm in letting the offender speak first? It ties them into a story.  Not only that but if you ask them “Well come over here away from her for a bit and tell me your side,” this can act to defuse the situation very quickly as the offender feels like someone is listening to him without input from another party.  Building rapport between parties does not mean you are mates; however it can often mean a job going more smoothly without people being hurt. 

 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m one of the first to jump in swinging when the need arises, but for the vast majority of incidents, simply speaking to people will be all you need.  Not only that but having a reputation as someone who will listen and give someone a go means, that when push comes to shove, generally no one will wonder why you had to use force when necessary.

 

Another subject in this area I wish to raise is manners.  There is nothing more professional than an officer speaking with a victim or witness and referring to them as “Sir” or “Ma’am” in the street.  Back at the station, you may refer to them by first name.  Even if the lowest piece of filth is getting into your face, remember you are always being watched and recorded. “I will not tolerate that kind of language Sir.  Continue using it and I will arrest you.” (Remember back up what you say, as there is nothing worse than a Constable telling someone several times to stop swearing.  It diminishes you and also your credibility.)  Likewise, be mindful to show manners to colleagues, even if they do not.  Thank radio for answering you if protocols allow, they have a rough job like you and people notice and it is small things like saying ‘thanks radio’ which can see you have a pleasant shift.  We are meant to be the leaders of society and enforce what is commonly held to be right.  Present a professional and courteous manner.

Duty Belt

 

Firstly, and most importantly, wear it. I am still stunned to see Uniformed Officers walking around shopping centres at lunch time who are not wearing their belt kit. Do they honestly think they will never be asked to assist someone or to break up a fight? I don’t know if it is apathy, or laziness, but it is a dangerous habit.

 

As a Shift Supervisor, I was constantly amazed at how many times I would see junior Officers hanging items on the pistol grip of their sidearm. DO NOT DO IT! I recall speaking to one Officer about it when she was at a DV job with a Breath Testing Device hanging from her pistol, and she stared at me like I was speaking martian. Then she realised what I was talking about, and told me that she did it 30 minutes prior and forgot it was there. I’m sure that would not have made anyone feel better if she had been unable to draw her sidearm in time to defend herself or her partner.

 

And lastly, make sure your belt kit is comfortable, and you know exactly where everything is without having to look for it. You’ll have to wear that thing for hours on end, and during periods of stress you should be able to reach for your weapons, handcuffs, and torch without having to think about it. Be reasonable about what you have there also.  Just out of the Academy it may be tempting to have the latest techno wizardry hanging from the belt.  Be realistic, how often will you be using the kit and is there always a need to have it right there.  Back injuries owing to a slouched seating position through a belt are not pleasant.

 

There are 3 things I recommend you do purchase though, that do not take up much room on your belt. The first is a multi-tool, such as Leatherman or Gerber. The second is a high-intensity torch, such as Surefire etc, and lastly, a mini-maglite, or small “admin” torch, for writing tickets etc. Those 3 items are probably the most used items on an Officer’s belt after the radio.

 

Fitness

 

You don’t need to run a marathon to be a good Police Officer, but you WILL experience incidents where someone will want to fight you. Those of you who think your excellent communication skills or your speed with OC spray &/or Taser will get you out of fighting anyone should slap yourselves around the face a few times.

 

Most, if not all, fights end up on the ground, and wrestling is a very aerobic activity. The fitter person will win. Make sure it is you.

 

Fitness is also proven to make you healthier, and more alert. Fit Police also present a more professional image, which can make your job easier. Think about how you assess overweight Officers, and if you want to be thought of that way by the public you are dealing with. Get into a routine, as that is the easiest way to maintain your fitness. If you are working a rotating roster, then make your work-out program the same. At the end of a busy shift you may feel to weary to work-out, but believe me when I tell you, from first-hand experience, and from speaking with a lot of other Officers, that working out after your shift is more likely to work off your stress than sitting around drinking a couple of beers.

 

It will help you sleep too. I spent too many years suffering from lack of sleep due to critical incident- & managerial-induced stress. Don’t fall into that trap as it is very difficult to climb your way back out.

 

If you don’t know what exercise to do, I recommend you start with the basics:

 

-          Jog  / bicycle / row / swim for 40 minutes 3 times a week;

-          Maximum repetitions of push ups, sit ups, and pull ups 3 times a week.

-          Basic stretches every day for 5 minutes. Nothing contorted, just basic muscle stretches.

 

Learning

 

Look at one piece of Legislation or one Departmental Policy every single shift. Just one. That’s it. You don’t need to learn it verbatim, just learn it so as you understand it. Don’t just rely on what your senior partner and colleagues tell you, but learn it for yourself. Policies and Legislation can burn you or protect you, depending on whether you know them or not. This also assists in career advancement such as promotional courses or transfer to specialist areas.

 

If you are curious as to what the Policy or Legislation is on a particular subject, don’t only ask your colleagues, but research it yourself. The ability to worm your way through the intricate knots of legislation and p
olicy will make you a much better Officer. You’d also be amazed at some of the Laws and Rules that none of your colleagues know.

 

Off duty.

 

The learning curve you will experience in the first twelve months is phenomenal.  You will have to quickly adjust to a life you never had any inkling was out there.  Dealing with offenders, victims, solicitors, other police, family and rosters are just some of the things that come your way.  Add to that your exams, tests, certifications and assessments and it can become very overwhelming. 

 

Get a hobby.  The Police is not a hobby, no matter how much you have wanted it and love it.  Find something to do outside of the job that allows you to become human again.  Also it does not hurt to maintain contact or make further friends outside of the job.  Trust me, you will make friends with the people you work with and from other agencies.  Each of them will likely be friends for life!  Your friend that is a carpenter though may help balance you and could help you drag your views out of the narrow focus of us and them.

 

Also do not brag about what you do, be proud and if someone asks, be honest but hold your tongue otherwise.  There are any number of people who may try and use your position against you or for their benefit.  Nothing looks worse than a bunch of Police Officers all whipping out badges, loudly boasting and acting the fool off duty.  Maintain professionalism.  You should also remember that what you do off duty can have massive effects on duty.  That one night you get drunk and mouth off may well see repercussions beyond what a normal “Joe Blow” might see.  Have fun, unwind, but remember be professional and maintain your credibility.  Heads are like tins, the empty ones rattle the most.

 

Paperwork

 

Don’t just do the bare minimum. Your entire career will be based on your ability to complete the myriad of paperwork (and computer work) that is the bane of every Officer. Do it all, and do it well. If you have messy handwriting, then slow down and tidy it up. Another aspect of paperwork is your notebook. TAKE NOTES!

 

Your notebook can be used to hang you or save you.  Relevant notes such as clothing and the offenders haircut; whether they are shaven or not can be critical in court, especially when relying on CCTV. They may radically change their appearance, even down to losing weight before the matter goes to court.  Should you also make a statement some time later, when it goes to court one of the best ways to ruin credibility I have seen is a simple set of questions that every solicitor learns.

“The statement was made several weeks later Constable.”

“Yes.”

“The conversation is true and correct?”

“Yes.”

“What was my client wearing?’

“… jeans and a top.”

“What colour?”

“I don’t recall.”

“Yet you recall the conversation exactly… nothing further.”

 

Performance

 

No matter what your career goal is, do not concentrate on one aspect of Policing in your first few years. Try to do everything. If you **** Traffic, then try to write at least one ticket per shift. If you love traffic, don’t neglect the assault jobs and house breaks. Do everything to the best of your ability. If you become a reliable “all-rounder” then your performance reviews will look better, and your chance of getting onto that desired course, transfer, or promotional spot will be more easily achieved. GD’s supervisors like “all-rounders”, and they usually look after them.

 

Professionalism

 

Police are an image. Police are not individual people. You are presenting an image. Ensure that image is one of a professional Police Officer, and not some larrikin, hippy, or sloth who somehow got their hands on a Uniform. Shave. Brush your teeth. Iron your uniform. Polish your boots. Common sense really.

 

Also, learn to have an “on duty” persona. If you’re a person that likes to stand around telling jokes with your mates, that’s great. But do not do it in public when you are on duty. Not only does it look unprofessional, but you’re decreasing your concentration on being aware of your surroundings.

 

Police need to be actors. They need to pretend to be aggressive, assertive, caring, and friendly. I say that you need to pretend, because if you do not pretend, if you actually do feel these emotions, then that reduces your effectiveness in performing your duties. Any Officer who gets caught up in the emotions of the job will soon fall apart. It sounds callous, but you must be able to remove yourself from the emotions of an incident, or you will become less able to perform your duties. Also, if you just present a robotic blank stare, then victims and offenders will find it hard to open up to you. So pretend.  The crooks are pretending most of the time. Most of them have a creeping dread of Police, which is only reinforced by a professional and well presented officer who knows their stuff and “looks the goods.”

 

Training

 

Apply for every single course that comes up. At the very least, it will simply provide you with more knowledge.

 

Seek out off-duty (and on-duty) opportunities to receive more training in firearms and defensive tactics. These skills may be required to save your life one day. Don’t be satisfied with an annual qualification of “competent”. Additionally, don’t assume that the training you received in the Academy is the best or only way to do your job. Seek out additional sources of information about Policing.

 

Witness Box

 

I was in the witness stand one day a few years ago, for a fairly complex Assault Police matter. The defence solicitor looked at me, rolled his eyes, and asked me if I could point out the offender. There were 2 persons sitting behind him, one of whom looked similar to my memory of the offender. But I wasn’t certain. I thought about pointing to the person who looked like the offender, just to “save” the case. But I said I couldn’t recognise the offender in Court. I honestly thought the case was about to be thrown out. But then the defense lawyer continued asking me questions, and not two minutes later the offender walked into the court room. The lawyer had tried to trick me, which is their job to a certain extent.

 

The lesson? Be honest. If you can not recall something, say so. If you do not recognise someone, say so. Be 100% honest in the witness stand. That is what is expected of you. No one, including Police, are expected to have photographic memory. That is why Police are issued notebooks. Be concise, don’t babble. Anything requiring more than a “yes” or “no” should be addressed to the Magistrate or Jury. It is actually a little disconcerting looking at 12 or more people staring at you while you’re trying to answer a question in court, but they are the people who will decide if they believe you or not.

 

I’ve given eveidence in Coronial Court, Magistrates Court, and Supreme Court. I was the main actor in an Aboriginal Death in Custody matter, and was labelled as a “credible witness” by the Coroner. I discovered the victims of a double-homicide, and established the Crime Scene, so you can imagine the extensive questioning of me in the Supreme Court, and the attentiveness of the Jury. (Yes, the offender was convicted)

 

And lastly, you must realise that you will NEVER know everything, so make yourself comfortable with the fact that you will always try to learn more…..

 

Good luck, and stay safe.

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Muna wa Wanjiru asked:

Soft air gun is a name for airsoft guns that is given by Crosman and Cybergun. These guns are powered with gas, spring or electric. It fires small plastic pellets of 8mm or 6mm diameter. The spring operated air guns are also sometimes known as soft air guns. The inexpensive soft air guns are low powered and they are used by some players as the professional soft air gun users. But these new players play these guns in their backyard. The professional airsoft is played by using some of the most expensive models of the soft air guns. This concept is similar to the concept of paintball. The only exception is that the airsoft is the simulated as the military and has objectives rather than constant deathmatches.

The soft air guns are the replicas of the real firearms and they cannot be converted to fire real bullets. But body kits and fictional firearms is occasionally available. An example of this is M41A pulse rifle that featured in the Alien series of films.

Some inexpensive models of the soft air guns are caricatures of firearms like mini electrics or reduced scale models like boys models by some makers. The XM8 prototypes are the replica designs of the firearms that never wet into production or service.

All the soft air guns such as gas, spring and electric work on the same principle. The gas is compressed which in turn expands and forces the pellet down the barrel of the gun. Each type of soft air guns has its own pros and cons.

Sprig powered soft air guns

These guns are single shot devices. It uses potential energy that is stored in the spring. The spring launches an airsoft pellet down the gun barrel. The user is required to **** the spring gun before firing a shot. This is achieved by pulling back the grip on a shotgun or slide on a pistol or bolt on a rifle. These actions compresses the spring and makes he gun ready to fire. Thus these guns are incapable of semi automatic or automatic fire. The power of the spring powered soft air guns is low as compared to electric and gas powered soft air guns. The power of the soft air guns depends on its cost.

Although most guns use spring for the propulsion of a soft air pellet but they are not considered in the same category as the single shot spring powered guns. The cost of the low end spring guns is much less than the electric powered equivalent guns.

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Staff Writer asked:

The Walther P22 is a small pistol that tends to get dirty fast, especially when using low velocity ammunition where all of the propellant isn’t used when a cartridge is fired. Frequent cleaning will keep your P22 functioning properly and safely.

The P22′s small size makes cleaning it a quick but somewhat tedious task. Before you get started you will want to have the following items on hand and ready to go.

Cotton cleaning patches

Cleaning rod

Small cleaning rod patches

Cleaning solvent (synthetic safe)

Cleaning spray (synthetic safe)

Oil or oil patches

Toothbrush and cotton swaps

Canned air (optional)

Once you’ve got all of the supplies on hand, begin the cleaning process by first ensuring that the firearm is not loaded. To do this, remove the magazine and then lock the slide back. Inspect the chamber to ensure that it’s empty. Once you’re sure the pistol is empty, remove the slide by gently pulling down on the take down lever that’s located below the slide just above the trigger.

With the take down lever pulled-down, gently depress the slide release and lift up gently on the slide as you move it forward over the barrel. Once the slide is removed the chamber and barrel of the pistol will be exposed.

This is as far as the manual recommends that you go in disassembling the pistol for cleaning. With the slide removed, dab some solvent on a cotton cleaning patch and begin wiping the black residue off of all exposed areas of the pistol. Don’t forget the underside of slide.

Once you’ve got most of the residue removed with the cotton cloth, use the synthetic safe cleaning spray and spray liberally into the pistol’s action to remove the grime that you can’t reach by hand. This part can get a little messy, so you may want to do this outside or while the pistol is over a bucket. After I spray the P22 down, I like to spray it down with canned air to get any residual cleaner off of the components.

At this point the pistol should be looking pretty clean. If you’ve got any tough spots, use a toothbrush or cotton swaps to scrub gently. Once the frame and the action of the pistol are clean, it’s time to clean the barrel. To clean the barrel, soak a small cleaning patch with solvent and gently insert it into the barrel through the chamber. Never insert anything into the front of a firearm’s barrel. Doing so may knick the barrel and adversely affect the accuracy of the firearm. Run the cleaning patch in and out of the barrel a couple of times and then inspect it by looking through the barrel.

If you notice any lead or copper fragments, you may need to very gently run a wire brush through the barrel a couple of times. Be very careful not to force the brush when doing this as to not gouge the inside of the barrel.

Once the barrel is clean, use a cotton cloth soak with oil to give the pistol and its components a slight coating. The mistake that many people make when cleaning firearms is to go crazy with oil. This is counter-productive because a firearm with too much oil will get dirtier faster. Plus, you don’t need a lot to protect and lubricate the pistol.

Once the P22 is oiled, replace the slide and re-engage the take down lever. Now you’ve got a happy, clean Walther P22. If you’d like to give your P22 a really good cleaning, check out the tutorial at SpentBrass that goes into detail about removing the action from the frame to really get the grime out.

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