user: INPUT ARTICLE: Article: It takes time to learn how to curb your tendency to laugh, but distraction is an easy way to stop yourself, in the meantime. Try one of these options for shifting your thoughts away from what’s triggering your laughter: Do you laugh out of nervousness, or do you laugh to cope with painful feelings? Maybe you laugh because you have a lot of energy or have trouble finding the words you want to say. Whatever your reasons for laughing, write down when your laughter is causing you issues. Consider the time, location, occasion, and people who could be causing your laughter. These are called your triggers. Once you know what they are, you can begin to address your habit of laughing. What can you do instead of laughing nervously? For example, nod, lick your lips, exhale slowly, or click a pen. What you decide to replace your laughter with depends on the circumstances that are causing your laughter.  For example, you may laugh nervously during work meetings. If this is the case, click your pen instead of laughing. If you tend to laugh at serious moments, take a deep breath and then exhale at moments when you’d typically laugh. Since you know what’s making you laugh and what you can do instead, tell yourself that you will follow through on doing the new behavior. Reviewing your plan in your mind makes it more likely that you’ll be able to follow through. Tell yourself, “The next time I feel awkward in a work meeting, I will click my pen,” or “When I go to the funeral, I will nod when people share their condolences.” Social anxiety is a common cause of nervous laughter, so learning to deal with it can relieve your desire to laugh inappropriately. Confronting and accepting your anxieties can help you feel more confident in social situations and have more control over your nervous laughter. Practicing mindfulness can help keep you present and aware of your surroundings. This, in turn, can help curb laughing caused by distracting or invasive thoughts.

SUMMARY: Distract yourself from your urge to laugh. Identify what makes you laugh inappropriately. Choose replacement behaviors for the laughter. Create a plan for replacing your laughter. Learn to cope with social anxiety, if you have it. Practice mindfulness.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: There are two critical areas of a human which contain major organs and vital systems which, if shot, can stop a man in his tracks or kill him. is the "center of mass" in a human. This area contains the heart, major veins and arteries, the trachea, bronchi and lungs, the esophagus, and structures of the nervous system including the paired vagus nerves. To imagine the area that this encompasses, it starts above the diaphragm (just below the sternum) and makes (from a frontal view) a dome shape up to the first lateral rib. This is a pretty large target area. A shot in one area of the thoracic cavity is little different from any other, unless you hit the heart.  The problem with shots in the thoracic cavity is that a determined fighter or a man on drugs will be less than impressed with anything you throw at him in this area. Even if you destroy a person's heart they still have 20 to 30 seconds of full cognitive and physical ability with which they could severely hurt or even kill you. Additionally, the heart is a very small target and completely destroying the heart with one bullet is nearly impossible, which means that they will likely have even more time before their eventual fate is achieved. For all these reasons, many have adopted the self-defense rule: "shoot until the threat ends." (Or as stated in The Rules of Combat: "When in doubt, empty the magazine.") But you must determine for yourself what your protocol will be. Body armor is also a factor. Just hitting a man in the chest (unless you hit him in the exact same place every time) is just going to deplete your magazine. (Your chest delivered bullet thump MAY induce a fibrillation, resulting in death, but it has to be timed perfectly with your target's heart beat.  Not an advisable procedure.  Nor is it reliable.)  Bullet penetration is very much a key factor in bullet selection. This penetration does a few things for you. At less than optimal angles, the bullet will still reach vitals, and it will give your bullet a chance to possibly hit the spine, which (depending on where it lands) can either incapacitate completely, or at least paralyze enough of the body, so you may be able to get away. An important factor to note is that while bullet penetration can be to your advantage, rounds with a high degree of penetration (e.g., the FN 5.7x28 round) can exit the target. When firing with rounds like these, beware of accidentally hitting people or objects behind your assailant. Position yourself to your advantage, and wait for a clear shot. Once it leaves the barrel, the bullet will hit something, and you can't call it back! This area is much simpler; it contains the brain and upper spine.  While the brain is an obvious target, there are still some considerations in shot placement. The front of the cranium (above the eyebrows) is one of the hardest bones in the body, it is also not a flat target (angled toward the top of the head, and toward the sides). There have been instances where bullets have ricocheted off a person's forehead. Incidentally, just below this bone (below the eyebrows), down to the top of the upper-jaw is a very soft area with nose cartilage, sinus cavities, and eye holes, which leads directly to the lower brain, the medulla oblongata, and the upper spine. The brain is the largest target, and a bullet in there will mean "lights out," but flinching and minor movements are also possible when the brain is shot. The medulla oblongata and the upper spine initiate those flinching signals that are sent to the body. A bullet through either one of those, should ensure that there is no way the body might accidentally pull a trigger or move in some other potentially detrimental way. In a situation which requires the immediate and unquestioned incapacitation of a person, a shot through an approximately 3-inch (above the upper-jaw to eyebrows) by 5-inch (the outside edges of the eyes) window in the head is essential. This 3x5-inch area is about the same no matter what angle the person is facing you (from the rear and the sides it is about the same size and about the same level on the head). When scoring (to compare your improvements), or competing, a shot breaking the line of either cavity is good. The size of the grouping should matter less than getting the hits in quickly; and when shooting at the cranial cavity, only a guaranteed shot should be taken (you should always take more time for a cranial shot than a thoracic shot). But keep in mind, "Remember your worst day at the range; you will be twice as bad when you are in a gun fight." So, a hand-sized grouping in the thoracic region is optimal, as a general rule.

SUMMARY:

assistant: Bullet placement is much more important than the bullet itself. The thoracic cavity The second major area is the cranial cavity. For practice, replacing the circular chest target with a dome-shaped 11x7-inch target and the head with a 3x5-inch target will get you a more realistic targeting area.