Anax's World

english 101: supposedly is supposably incorrect?

2010-09-03T15:39:00.000-05:00

english 101: supposedly is supposably incorrect?

2007-11-07T17:24:00.000-05:00

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indespensable supports...And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion...Reason and experience forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail to the exclusion of religious principle.

- George Washington
Fairwell address

The week from Hell

2007-07-24T11:00:00.001-05:00

Ended last Sunday.

We moved into our new home over the course of the last week; culminating in a big push on Sunday to get the old place empty and clean.

It was a miserable week. When we bought the house, my better half informed me that she wanted me to paint two of the girls' bedrooms before we moved in; no sweat. Right before we got the keys, she tells me that I am going to paint all four bedrooms, the living room, the dining room, the upstairs hallway, the foyer, the family room, the kitchen and the master bath.

I told her I only had a week; she told me I better get started.

Six 12-hour days later, the bedrooms, the living room, the dining room, and upstairs hall were painted. I got home Sunday morning at 12:30 a.m. The movers were coming at 8:00 a.m. Another night of no rest.

The bedrooms had to be painted prior to the new carpet being put in. To save money, my wife decided that we would remove the old carpet, so that the carpet guy wouldn't charge us to do so. Removing the carpet from the tacking strips was a piece of cake. Manuevering a 15 foot-by-12 foot piece of carpet out of the master bedroom, down the hall, down the steps, through the foyer and out into the garage by myself at 10:30 p.m. after a long day of work, not such a piece of cake. That sucker was heavy. Thankfully that was the hardest piece and I got it out of the way first.

My wonderful wife moved the majority of the house herself, because she had already decided that I was going to slave in paint fumes the entire week. She did a great job, despite my constant expressions of concern over her ability to get the house moved by herself in time to turn the keys over. I'm proud of the job she did.

I am also proud of the house that God blessed us with. We put our house on the market in April; within a month, it sold. We found a house in a couple of weeks and entered into a contract. The funny thing about selling your house is that you are really never done until the sale actually closes. Our buyer stopped paying some of his bills between the time he got pre-approved for the purchase and the time his loan went to underwritting for final approval. Needless to say, his credit rating plummetted and he could not get financing. Then we fired our real estate agent for his complete incompetence and re-listed our house with a new agent. After about two weeks it sold again. Fortunately, the house we wanted to buy was still on the market, and we were able to purchase it again. Transaction completed, move completed.

The new house is great and it is in a great school district, which means we don't have to move again or be concerned about the kids going to public school.

life goes by so fast

2007-07-23T17:21:00.000-05:00

My oldest daughter is five (I now have 4 littl princesses). I can't believe that she's five already. We are not sending her to kindergarten this year, so she will go next fall. I remember so clearly when she was born, holding that little bundle of gunky baby in my arm, what an incredible experience. Having kids is an incredible, humbling, frustrating, and joyful experience. Watching children turn from little poo factories into little people is just wonderful. They are such little sponges absorbing everything around them. I love my little girls with a purity and to a magnitude that I did not think it could go. I am so blessed to be having this experience.

Supreme Court does it again

2007-04-03T10:49:00.000-05:00

So, the Supreme Court now gets to dictate the policy of the EPA. If the EPA doesn't think it has authority to regulate something and/or chooses not to regulate it and/or is ordered not to regulate it, under what Constitutional authority does the Supreme Court get to order it to regulate green house gases?

We just need one more strict interpreter of the Constitution on the Court and all this silliness can go away.

Regardless of how you stand on many controversial policy issues, i.e. abortion, 'global warming', etc, the Supreme Court is not the body to set policy, make law, or even enforce laws. I wish the justices would just do their limited job, to interpret the law as drafted by the legislature. These guys in robes think they can manipulate the law in order to affect their personal policy decisions. It drives me nuts.

Newest and Last Addition to our Clan

2007-03-14T10:45:00.000-05:00

Olivia Jillian was born this morning, March 13, 2007 at 3:36 in the a.m. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 3 ozs with a length of 21 inches. Mom and Baby are well. We should be home on Friday.

Haliburton

2007-03-13T15:55:00.000-05:00

Haliburton is considering moving its headquarters to Dubai. Good for Haliburton. If the US government weren't so big and intrusive and did not spend so much time trying to punish people/companies with taxes designed to discurage profits, then companies would not be fleeing in droves. This is less about Haliburton and more a condemnation on the US government.

Effing Columbia House

2007-02-09T09:48:00.000-05:00

About 2 weeks ago, I received an unsolicited DVD from Columbia House. I sent it back 'return to sender'.

A day later, I called the 800 number for Columbia House to complain and 'cancel' my 'account'. There is absolutely no way to get a live person via it's 800 number. Wonderful customer service, that. I went on to the web site and sent an email and went through the steps to 'cancel' my 'account'.

Yesterday, I received a bill from Columbia House in the amount of $48.00 representing my unfulfilled 'purchase agreement'. Agreement seems to indicate that at some point, I actually agreed to something, which I never did.

So, today, I tried the 800 number again to no avail; no live people actually work at Columbia House, just a big warehouse full of robots and computers.

I searched for a while on the internet and found a number fo BMG/Columbia House in New York, as that is where the parent company is based. That number, should anyone need it, is 212-596-2000.

I just got off the phone with those cocksuckers (my new favorite swear word) and they cannot help me right now. I need to call back because when they try to connect me to a customer service manager in Indianapolis, surprisingly, even the fucking parent company cannot get someone on the phone. The woman I spoke with told me to call her back in about an hour, maybe there would be someone in the Indianapolis office then. What a fucking headache.

Cocksuckers.

I know it's too soon to actually post again, but here we go ...

2007-02-08T15:56:00.000-05:00

I found a book to read, a collection of Lovecraft short stories. I have never actually read Lovecraft, and am thoroughly enjoying them. The stories are true to the short story form but are quite dense. He packs thorough descriptions that stir the emotions very well in very few words. "The Cats of Ulthar" has been my favorite in this collection so far. Unfortunately, I don't spend nearly enough time reading anymore, which means I feel like a moron carrying around the same collection of short stories for more than 2 weeks.

I know there is much in the world to comment on, but really, who cares. The world is so tedius. I'm tired of over-paid whiny politicians telling me about how good they are and how bad their opponents are while jetting around the country in a Boeing Business Jet at $300,000.00 a trip on my dime. Thanks for making it even harder to look at my pay stub every week and seeing just how big that thing that is that you are going to insert in my back end.

Seriously, I wish it were practical to seceed or overthrow the government. If ever there was a 'republic' that deserved it more, I do not know. The visionaries that created this government are sitting in the after-life just as stunned as we are at the crap that our government has become.

Gosh, I sound bitter. I just need a 28,000 square foot house sitting on 100 acres to cheer me up. If only I was a trial lawyer and senator.

I really don't have time to blog

2007-01-23T11:57:00.000-05:00

I'm still alive ... barely.

It was nice to play some cards with the guys and gals on Sunday. Thanks again for having me out. Good times.

The kids are well, they grow up so fast. I still can't believe we are having our fourth child shortly. I think the due date is late March, but good money would be on late February, as my kids are always early.

Work is kicking my butt. I think I may be trying to overachieve, something I have never been accused of in the past.

Glad to see my favorite programs are coming back on. I haven't watched Battlestar Gallactica, the best show on tv, from Sunday night yet, but should tonight. I love that show. Myrddyn mentioned he was disappointed with the last few episodes. He did not really say why, he was crying over a lost game of guts. I think this season has rivaled the first two for quality.

I hope to watch Heroes tonight as well. This is right up there with Battlestar for me. I love that little Japanese guy; I laugh everytime he says anything.

Rome started a couple of weeks ago on HBO. I think the show is good, but really depresses me for some reason.

Extras on HBO is my new favorite comedy show. If you can, check out the first season (the second season just started). Every episode has an 'A' list actor/celebrity guest starring on the show. Ben Stiller is priceless, David Bowie and Patrick Stewart were also very good.

I haven't been reading so much lately, makes me a bit sad. The last thing I read was Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman, a great collection of short stories and poems. I need to find a good book to sink my teeth into. I love to read and miss it. If you have read anything good, in any genre, let me know, I'll check it out.

2006-10-30T21:04:00.000-05:00

So, what's new in my world?

I have been thinking about death quite a bit lately. Almost to the point of obsession. I think I really started thinking about death more once I had kids. Makes me realize my own mortality; I was their age just the blink of an eye ago.

I think I am most scared because I believe in heaven and hell, and I know that I am not living the life I could or should be living. I really think that if I died now, that I would spend a long time in a fiery pit. Pleasant thought, huh? I really need to work on being more open, honest, compassionate, giving and loving. If you pray, keep my in your prayers please.

Myrddyn mentioned that there is nothing like the love of a woman. While the love of a woman is wonderful, there is truly noting like the love of a child. My children are incredible, they amaze me everyday. I have never been so lucky in my life as to have children. Pure love that really goes both ways. Those kids, as crazy and naughty as they can be (and as punishment for all my bad behavior as a child, they can be pretty naughty) can do nothing to stop me from loving them with every fiber of my being. I have a feeling Chaos knows (you will stop being afraid that he will stop breathing while you are not watching).

My wife and I went to the movies a couple of weeks ago and saw the Prestige. This movie is fantastic. One of the best movies I have seen in quite a while. The story of duelling magicians is fully entertaining; the acting is superb; and the plot twists are great. The ending is phenomenal. We talked about the subtleties of this movie all night, remembering things that characters said earlier in the movie that were made so much clearer by the end.

Unfortunately, the date ended on a sour note. We went to Cheesecake Factory, a favorite for us, when we can afford it. We started off with the appetizer sampler, which is a good sized appetizer for four; we eat it as a meal sometimes. Because it is four plates of food, it takes up a bit of space. The other couple we were with had the same thing; our table was completely covered in appetizer plates. About 5 minutes after the apps were delivered, out comes the other couple's entree; there was no room on the table. I mentioned, not even loudly, that I could not believe the waiter allowed the order to come out already. The waitress delivering the entree asked if we wanted her to take it back. Wasn't my meal and other couple said no it was fine. Waitress leaves. Waiter never comes back. Never. 5 minutes, then 10 minutes pass. He hits all the tables around us. Stops, looks at our table; no way he misses the empty drinks; just walks on by. First time in my life that I did not tip. The cheesecake was comped by the manager, but I was really ed. The guy thought there was a problem and just avoided us for half-an-hour. @#$#@#.

Some good Neil Gaiman short stories

2006-10-03T09:42:00.000-05:00

Blackbirds

Cthulu

I am a huge fan of Gaiman's work, from the Sandman comic to his short stories to his novels. His most recent release is a collection of short stories and poems entitled "Fragile Things". It is the first book I have actually purchased in over a year and am currently reading it to my wife. His writing tends to be of the fantastic with plenty of subtle humour and a myriad of references to other literature and characters. For the most part it is fun reading, not very serious, although some of his work is a bit on the Clive Barker side.

Check him out.

2006-10-02T10:03:00.000-05:00

110 Stories

D'oh!

2006-07-27T15:29:00.000-05:00

I was going to post a video from you tube here, but I did not like the way it looked. However, here is the link.

Edited 7/31 - thanks Zeb:

Aparently, the video was removed from tou tube. Let me try to explain it, and it won't be nearly as funny.

The video is captioned 'Cyber Sex'. Boy is sitting in front of his computer IMing a girl. They agree to have cyber sex. He is watching a video of her pulling her shirt up. He stands up to drop his drawers, when he is called down to dinner by his mother. Boy starts to eat dinner, scooping mashed potatoes onto his plate. His sister is sitting across from him. He looks over at her and realizes that is the shirt he was watching being removed from his cyber vixen. The look on his face is priceless. Very funny.

Funny

2006-07-25T21:23:00.000-05:00

This is how my therapy sessions would go.

Because the Judiciary should be running foreign affairs

2006-07-25T11:30:00.000-05:00

An Arab-American civil rights group filed a federal lawsuit on Monday charging the Bush administration with failing to protect the lives of thousands of U.S. citizens trapped in Lebanon by the Israeli military offensive.

The lawsuit, which was filed by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, seeks an emergency court order that would compel the U.S. government to stop sending weapons to Israel as long as U.S. citizens are trying to leave Lebanon.

The group also is asking for an injunction that would force Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to request a ceasefire and an order that U.S. officials "increase their evacuation efforts and use all resources at their disposal," including more military transports and commercial charters.

I'm not sure where to start with this 'lawsuit'. I feel somewhat badly for those Americans who are 'stuck' in Lebanon. Someone should have warned them that the Middle East isn't exactly stable before they headed over there. As the government did not force them to be there, the government isn't really responsible to get them out. As a benevolent government, historically, ours does get our citizens out of dangerous areas via military means. However, those citizens are generally billed for some of the costs. This situation should have been no different, but, of course, the media outcry caused the government to give these citizens a free ride.

This whole suit, though, fails the smell test. It stinks. Nothing like an "arab-american" (i.e. arab) group trying to use the american judiciary to dictate foreign policy. Of course, the federal judiciary has a long history of trying to usurp power. The federal judge in Michigan may just decide to order Condee to do something about those war-mongering Isrealites. Hell, he may just decide to issue an injunction against the Isrealites ordering them to cease fire and promptly remove themselves from the world to appeas the Muslims.

Nina Chahine, 19, who with her family was among the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said her wedding in the southern city of Tyre was set for July 13. The wedding had to be postponed as family members fled the outbreak of the war, she said.

"We were on the road and the first bridge was bombed and we drove home and all the other bridges were bombed and there was absolutely no way for us to get home," Chahine told reporters outside federal court in Detroit.

"We were all American citizens and there was no way that anybody helped us. No communications nothing. I was on my way to my wedding fearing death, basically."

Here's a thought, plan your wedding for a more stable location. When you go to south Labanon, infested with Hezbollah, for your wedding, you may at least plan a contingency in case those same Hezbollah continue to bomb Israel. Don't plan your wedding in a war zone, then blame the American government becasue you were fearing death on your wedding day. I have a feeling if you would have planned your wedding to take place in Detroit, you would not have feared an Israeli invasion (of course, you may have still feared for your life). Why aren't you suing Israel as well?

2006-07-17T15:54:00.000-05:00

A brief history of the middle east.

As read by Glenn Beck.

Accompanied by a brief history of illegal immigration.

ACLU BS

2006-07-13T12:43:00.000-05:00

The same federal judge who threw out Georgia's voter ID law last year blocked the state Wednesday from enforcing its revised law during this year's elections.

In October, the judge rejected a more-stringent voter ID requirement, saying it amounted to an unconstitutional poll tax because of the fees associated with getting the required ID. This year, the Legislature passed a law that made the IDs free and available in all counties.

You would think that this would do the trick, show up, prove who you are, get a free ID and, wham, vote away. Oh, but wait, we don't really want to take steps to keep democrats from dragging bus-loads of people from polling place to polling place casting multiple ballots under assummed names ...

During a day of testimony before Murphy issued his decision, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Neil Bradley argued that making voters go to county registrar's offices to get a required ID was an inconvenience that did nothing to address fraud at the ballot box.

That's right, getting a free ID to vote is an inconvenience. Damn, so is E-check, renewing my license plates, renewing my driver's license, not to mention paying my annual fees to keep my law license, speed limits, taxes, having to actually sign my name when I vote, having to go to the right polling place to vote, and not being able to vote as many times as I want. Let's take a hard stand and protect the people's rights to vote without any accountability, then bitch about election fraud afterwards.

But the computer says so ...

2006-07-13T11:06:00.000-05:00

So, the dead want to work now, too? With all the unemployed living, you would think the dead would at least back of the demand for work.

Also, of note, is the headnote on this site: "Proudly searching ONLY South Africa."
Very proud indeed, I'm sure, but isn't Malaysia not in south africa?

"It's easier to pay for prostitutes with crack than cash"

2006-07-13T11:02:00.000-05:00

So says an 80 year old drug-dealing john in this story. But, he was just trying to stay sexually active and pay his bills. Isn't that what every guy wants?

I'm sure these were high-quality whores, too.

The Baroque Cycle

2006-07-13T10:25:00.000-05:00

This has been my most recent read. Three books in an incredibly well-written entertaining series set in the late 17th and early 18th century by Neal Stephenson. The story focuses on three main characters: Jack Shaftoe a vagabond become a king of sorts; Eliza a slave become duchess and heavyweight of financials; and Daniel Waterhouse a natural philosopher, phanatique, and 'friend' of Isaac Newton.

There is no easy way to describe the tale that takes place over a 60 plus year span around the globe. The books, while at times tedious, are generally easy reading, thought-provoking, historically accurate to the times, witty, and just plain fun. The issues tend to be religious, economic, scientific and political with a dashes of adventure, romance, and hilarity.

In the past I have blogged about Stephenson's earlier work, Cryptonomicon. This is more of the same and I recommend it highly.

Like a horde of barbarians pilaging Rome

2006-07-13T10:17:00.000-05:00

Thank you Aljazeera.

I think that if the american soldiers actually committed this crime, then they should be punished accordingly. If the crime is as it has been reported, capital punishment is in order.

However, saying that "this is what the american liberators are doing in Iraq, raping girls and killing civilians inside their houses" is a just a bit over the top. What does Aljazeera think it is, the New York Times?

Superman

2006-07-03T15:37:00.000-05:00

So, now Superman is no longer an example of the American sense of justice and ethics. The producers/writers/directors (whomever) of the new movie, changed the line 'truth, justice, and the American way' to 'truth, justice, and all that stuff."

Now, setting aside that Superman has a 70 year history of being America's super-hero, that's just a stupid line.

More importantly, while I know that the international box office is important, why do we have to communize, I mean globalize, our super-heroes? He is our super-hero. He is as American an institution as there can be, and yet the writers of the new movie, 'concerned' over what the world might think, changed the institution so as not to offend. Great. Assholes.

I'm glad I read about this, there is $8.50 I won't drop on a movie.

Oblivion

2006-07-02T00:46:00.000-05:00

If you are not playing this game, shame on you. This is one of the most addictive role-playing games ever. I have never been so engrossed by a game before. It combines excellent role-playing with good first-person shooter action with incredible amount of free-will/non-linearness (as if that were a word). Go get this game.

One more thought

2006-06-30T16:49:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Kaos and his lovely wife on the birth of their first child. He is a manly child (at least from the pictures I have seen).

I hope that he grows up to be just like his dad, whom I respect very much as an intelligent, kind, caring, witty, and fun person. And I hope he gets there in the same hellish, kaotic manner. Just desserts and all that. Just keep him away from my daughters.

Man am I lazy

2006-06-30T16:27:00.000-05:00

Four months between posts. Given that amount of time, you would think there was some impressive output, but alas, this is it.

My oldest is nearly 4, my middle turned two a month ago on our ride back from vacation, my youngest is 7 1/2 months. Man time just flies.

I got to have all the kids by myself last night (my wife went to see Paul Simon with a friend). It turned out to be a pretty good time. I got home, got the girls up from their naps, and we spent a couple hours in the backyard playing. Then inside for dinner and off to bed. Even Sophia was co-operative, which is a recent thing for me; she used to just scream as soon as her mom left the room. And that kid can scream ... never-ending, shrill, scream-cry ... not much fun. But, she has gotten better and did not cry much at all last night. Finally over the last two weeks she has started really sleeping through the night and is out of our room (praise God for both those gifts).

Speeking of my backyard, I spent a week building a playset for the girls. It has a little fort, a slide, a rockwall, 2 swings, monkey bars, and a glider. That was fun, although it meant working until well into the dark for 3 straight nights after getting home from work. Well worth the effort as the girls love it, and now we actually use our backyard for something other than growing weeds (my yard care has really fallen off this year).

Vacation was pretty good. We drove down to the Outer Banks on a Saturday (a 10 1/2 hour drive with the several stops we needed to make to keep 3 kids happy, i.e. not crying). Spent a week at a pretty decent house a block from the beach with a hot tub and heated pool. We definitely had fun. I got to hit the beach in the morning with the girls a couple of times when everyone else was still asleep (Abby and Bella don't sleep past 6 a.m. on vacation). The one morning a bunch of guys were net-fishing on a 1/4 mile or so stretch of beach. After they had pulled in the net, they were tossing back the dead sharks and fish they couldn't use. The beach was littered with dead baby shars, including some hammerheads. This was actually pretty interesting, and I had the girls checking them out with me. At one point, I looked down at Bella who had her finger jambed into the empty eye-socket of a shark. Very pleasant. She kept talking to it, expecting some sort of exchange of niceties. He was dead, hence no response.

Work is still going well. I have just gotten busier, which sucks, but I am still don't work weekends, which doesn't suck. If any of you are looking for a lawyer, give me a call, I need to bring in some work, if possible. I can pretty much do anything you need. Look at me all pimping my job on my blog.

Look at all those words and not a rant in them. The rants are just below the surface ... must keep them down ... can't control them:

I hate the ACLU, bunch of hypocritical bastards. So, some valedictorian can't mention Jesus in her graduation speech lest someone think it might be school-sanctioned and sue the school. The bastards actually pulled the plug on her during her speech as she refused to remove the 'offensive' reference to her faith from her speech. So, ACLU loves freedom of speech as long as it's not christian speech. Would they have reacted the same way if it had been a praise to Allah? I have a hard time believing that they would. Lawyers and the threat of lawsuits to stifle activity drive me nuts.

If I read one more supreme court decision mentioning how we have to look to international law as persuasive in our jurisprudence, I am going to vomit. You are the United States Supreme Court, how about you stick to interpreting the laws of this country as ultimately ruled by the Constitution?

Up with states rights, down with the federal government.

Tyranny is upon us in the form of lawyers in black robes.

Hope to see most of you (I know only a couple of people read this thing anyway) at Mark's on Sunday. Clan Anax will be there representing.

Recent thoughts

2006-02-23T15:24:00.000-05:00

I have been playing Star Wars Empire at War a bunch lately. So, far, the campaign mode is pretty good. Just learning the strategy, my poor Rebel units have been schooled a bit. But, perhaps they can recover and topple the evil Empire. Of course, then I will have to play as the evil Empire and crush the traitorous Rebels.

I had some really good socio-political rants running through my head recently, but as I started typing this, I can't think of any.

I have to believe that Bush has some great deal/logic behind the public disaster that has been the port-selling issue. It's just too hard to believe that he would back it so feverously if there wasn't more we don't know about, yet. Seems on the surface to be a really bad move, but with the Dems and Rinos screeming so wildly, there must be more. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

The kids are doing well, the wife is great, the job is great, everything in my personal life seems to be going well. Wonder when the other foot will fall?

Great Speech

2006-01-29T23:49:00.000-05:00

Ronald Reagan does a wonderful job of explaining my position on so many issues.

It's a little long, but man, what a great job.

"Those who would trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state have told us they have a utopian solution of peace without victory. They call their policy "accommodation." And they say if we'll only avoid any direct confrontation with the enemy, he'll forget his evil ways and learn to love us. All who oppose them are indicted as warmongers."

"And what then -- when Nikita Khrushchev has told his people he knows what our answer will be? He has told them that we're retreating under the pressure of the Cold War, and someday when the time comes to deliver the final ultimatum, our surrender will be voluntary, because by that time we will have been weakened from within spiritually, morally, and economically. He believes this because from our side he's heard voices pleading for "peace at any price" or "better Red than dead," or as one commentator put it, he'd rather "live on his knees than die on his feet." And therein lies the road to war, because those voices don't speak for the rest of us."

Most of this speech seems just as relevant now as it did 40 years ago.

I am a geek

2006-01-24T12:28:00.000-05:00

That's probably why this website is so funny to me. I stumbled upon it and thought I would share.

I have discovered a love for Omaha Hi/Lo, my new poker game of choice. I still love hold 'em for the tourneys, but Omaha is a great ring game.

I hate coming up with titles

2006-01-12T21:44:00.000-05:00

I really like Judge Alito. I purchased a Sirius subscription about 8 months ago in anticipation of Howard Stern heading over there. I find that I love the variety of channels available on Sirius. I can always find something to listen to whether its music or talk. In the last three days I have been riveted to the C-Span station as it has been carrying the Alito confirmation hearings. He seems like an incredibly intelligent, well-reasoned, and articulate judge and I think he will make an excellent Justice. I also have renewed my dislike for politicians. What a bunch of self-important asses.

And Howards been pretty good.

I just realized I never posted this. So, here it is.

No Title

2006-01-10T23:36:00.000-05:00

Close, but no cigar.

Also close, but, again, no cigar.

Three's company

2006-01-04T18:03:00.001-05:00

Seems three kids is harder than two ... who would have thunk it? Of course, it is hardest on my wife as she stays up with the little bugger who hasn't figured out that us non-vampires sleep at night!

As much as I bitch about how things are at home, I really do love my kids and would not trade them for anything. They bring me such happiness.

Saw a couple of pretty good movies. Saw Sin City on dvd. It is by far the best movie adaptation of a comic book ever. It captures the feel of Frank Miller's work to the 't'. It, however, is also not for children. It is one of the most violent movies I have ever seen (I must admit that I don't see many violent movies). I thought all of the actors/actresses did a great job and the stories were great. Highly recommended.

On my birthday, my aforementioned wife and I saw Narnia. The movie failed to capture the real feeling of the book. It was a decent telling of the story, but lacked the depth of emotion that was so well conveyed by C.S. Lewis in his book. Even when I recently re-read the book, it was very emotional in parts (particularly with the death and resurrection of Aslan). The movie just did not get it. Also, I think one can't help but compare it with Lord of the Rings, which book was written for a completely different audience but from the same genre. Those movies were just such incredible fantasy-adventure movies that captured the feeling of the books so well.

I read Myrddyn's most recent post and have made a similar resolution regarding my physical health. To that end, I have started using our treadmill/playground. We'll see how long I stick with that and the eating of healthier foods. Seems like a good plan as I am really unhappy with my appearance right now, but, I am definitely one of those lazy will-less American's that Myrddyn refers to.

I have been playing Temple of Elemental Evil on the computer recently. What a great game, and a great bargain ($10 bucks at WalMart). Hours of dungeon crawl and hack and slash DnD with little cost.

Gotta get back to work, so I can get out of here at a decent time.

Thanks to the three of you who actually read this on occassion. You truly make this blog what it is ...

Been even longer

2005-12-10T16:53:00.000-05:00

Had a baby on 11/14. Sophia Paige popped out weighing in at 7 pounds 1 ounce and 19 1/2 inches long. Full head of beautiful black hair. She's pretty cool.

Now the long battle begins over a 4th baby ... one I likely will lose, but will not go down without a fight.

Gotta Love Lawyers ... always ready to 'protect' us from ourselves.

I am not threatened by other religions. If you are Jewish, Muslim, atheist (if that is a religion), or Satanist, it does not threaten me or my views. And if you want to display objects traditionally associated with your religion in a park or government building, my beliefs are not threatened by that (while I may not like it) Why are so many people threatened by Christmas displays?

I go to court occasionally, and have seen many witnesses sworn in; never have I seen an Bible being used. I have only ever seen the witness raise his right hand and swear or affirm the veracity of his statements. Of course, I've never practiced in North Carolina.

This is one of the most tragically ironic things I have ever heard. My heart goes out to this family.

I thought, from the headline, this might have been Myrddyn.

It's unbelievable the lengths Hollywood will go to to deny the truth. So, a producer, an actor, and the director are, at best, not sure of the religious aspect of "The Chronicles of Narnia". From what I have read of what C.S. Lewis intended of the Chronicles, he created a supposition. Suppose that there is a land of talking animals, then suppose that the Son of God comes to that land in the form of a lion and dies for the sins of a boy, then what happens? While not allegories, the stories are religious in nature. Aslan is the Son of God. Ticks me off that these people are hoping to make millions off the move and refuse to acknowledge what even C.S. Lewis said about the religion in his books.

I am currently reading through the Chronicles, in anticipation seeing the movie. Reading them as an adult, with an understanding of Christianity, makes me appreciate the subtle nature of the inclusion of Christianity in his books. As a child, I did not see the more subtle messages. They are fantasy adventure books, but do have Christian values as an undertone. Each book seems to contain one big moment revealing a Christian principle. They are a wonderful read no matter what your religious views, because they do not harp on religion. While they do contain paganistic references and other mythologies, it is clear that Aslan is above them all.

I recently finished watching all 12 episodes of HBO's Rome, thanks to HBO On Demand. This is now one of my favorite shows and I am looking forward to more episodes.

Been a while ...

2005-09-27T15:36:00.000-05:00

But I am here. I started a new job back in August and, after a month, must say that I am absolutely loving it. I have been busy with the foreclosure stuff, but am looking forward to bringing in some of my own work, as time permits. The firm I joined has treated me well and is truly a wonderful place to be.

I had my first real sushi lunch today. There's a sushi place down the street from my office that the guys here say is 'good'. I had a variety of different types of sushi: raw eel, salmon, shrimp; cooked shrimp. Also had some hot saki, which was ok ... it smells like rubbing alcohol. Over all, not a bad meal, but I think I could only handle it once in a while.

Today is my wife's birthday. I got her some gift certificates to a couple of her favorite clothing stores, took her out to the Cheesecake Factory last Saturday, and we are heading to the Indians game on Thursday (sure has been an exciting baseball season). I am going to stop and get her a cake on my way home from work. Hope she is having a good day.

Liberals and liberalism sucks. I just wish they would be honest about who they are and what they want.

I am in two fantasy football leagues and, after 3 weeks, I am 3-0 in both. I'm not sure my team is that good, and I'm not that knowledgeable about the players, but we will see how the season ends. The Browns have been less than impressive so far this year ... just wait until next year, though.

Mayor of New Orleans

2005-09-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

Is truly an ass. Now he is threatening a forced evacuation for those still in the city. Great. Where was this before the hurricane? Nice job, Mayor. Keep screaming about the loss of life being the Bush administration's fault, maybe someone will believe you ... oh, wait, the mainstream media does not need to believe you to keep shouting the same crap.

FEMA is not a quick response agency. Again, the immediate responsibilty for people remaining in New Orleans should fall squarely on the shoulders of the mayor and the governor.

I heard that within 5 days of Katrina, 20,000 national guardsmen have been dispersed to New Orleans. Within 4 days of Andrew, a category 5 hurricane, 15,000 national guardsmane were dispersed. Maybe the reaction of the feds wasn't that off. Most is likely to turn out to be hype and spin to discredit the current administration.

My new job is going well. I really enjoy it here and am learning/doing many more things than prior. I am glad to have been given an opportunity here.

More thoughts on Katrina

2005-09-06T16:51:00.000-05:00

It came to my attention today that: 1) the city of New Orleans actually had a specific and detailed evacuation plan that the mayor never put into action; and 2) that in emergency situations, the first line of relief/organization/preparedness falls on the local governments, then the state governments, then, when requested the federal governments.

The mayor of New Orleans is all up in arms about the feds not being prepared and not reacting quickly enough. Why didn't put the evacuation plan into effect? The plan, from what I have heard, provides for the evacuation of most of the poor who otherwise lacked transportation to evacuate. Along this line, I saw a picture over on the drudge report of a lot full of busses sitting in high water unused. The buses are about a mile from the superdome. Why weren't these buses used to get those people out prior to the hurrican hitting?

Also, I heard that W actually had to call and beg the governor of Louisianna to order an evacuation and declare an emergency on the Sunday prior to the hurricane. It still took the governor nearly 24 hours to do so. Giving the warning only 2 days prior to the hurricane hitting New Orleans.

I heard interesting commentary this morning on Quin and Rose about the looting and violence after the storm. This type of behavior is generally not expected en masse. However, the people who did not evacuate fall into 2 categories: poor, uneducated, welfare-minded people and criminals (apparantely, many criminals were let out of jails because authorities did not know how to keep them safe). These two groups tend to have a lack of respect for property and personal rights. The welfare/entitlement minded because they don't own anything and have always been given what they want/need. The criminals, because, well, they're criminals. It's sad to see the amount of violence/intentional destruction going on down there. If I hear one more person with an armfull of tennis shoes state that she was stealing them because she has six kids and needs to survive, I am going to puke. I can understand stealing food/water/medical supplies to survive (of course it's not like they had been without these things for weeks after the hurricane, there was looting the next day). However, I cannot understand how people can rationalize taking tvs and computers and tennis shoes and jewelry as necessary for survival.

Oh well, my prayers and best wishes go out to those in New Orleans who are not looting/killing/whining and to those who are headed there, or already there, to assist in the cleanup and assist with the people 'left behind'.

As an aside, I started playng D20 Traveller, via an email group. I am working on my character now. Traveller is a far-future, realistic science fiction role-playing game. Anyone who reads this, and I know that is a very 'exclusive' audience, is welcome to email me if they are interested in joining up. I have role-played by email with the same game-master in the past and it worked out very well ... until everyone got too busy. This particular group has been on going for nearly a year, I think. Anyway, it's good to be back in RPG mode. And I hope this last paragraph does not diminish how people interpret the first several.

Katrina

2005-09-05T21:37:00.000-05:00

Katrina is a real tragedy, and it is nice to see people stepping up to help those who have suffered such loss. What really drives me batty, though, is the race card. OK, so most of those not “able” to get out are poor. And many of them are black. But that does not make it a racial issue. It may make it a social issue regarding poverty in this country, but it is not racial. The Klan did not set the hurricane in motion. Nature did, so she must be a racist.

Jessie Jackson has now compared the Superdome, where thousands have taken refuge, to slave ships. That’s a really good analogy. He must have spent some time really thinking about that one before he spouted it out. What complete disrespect for what actual slaves had to endure in crossing the Atlantic. What an ass.

Then there are people saying George W doesn’t like black people. Because federal money and aid did not pour in fast enough? That we were caught with our pants down on this one? That may be true, but again it does not equal racism. Quite frankly, while he may be the President, he doesn’t have complete control over everything that occurs. He's not a monarch or dictator, despite what many liberals would like you to believe. I am so tired of the bullshit rhetoric. It is this kind of crap talk that furthers division in this country.

Of course, maybe I’m just not sensitive enough because I am not black. But it seems to me always calling you or your people victims of someone else’s doings do not get to the root of your or your community’s problems.

I'm here ... really.

2005-08-19T08:34:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I have posted. Time just slips away. Too my loyal reader, yes reader, I appologize.

Last weekend we went to one of my law school buddies houses. We had a sort of mini-reunion of my study group. The one couple lives out in California and were here for a big SCA event. It was so nice to see them. I really miss hanging out with all my study group friends. They really made the 3 years of law school bearable and fun. It was just like old times, hanging out, drinking some beer, discussing geeky things like role-playing and computer games. B made his signature ribs. They were awesome. My only complaint is that I could not eat more.

Tonight, my wife invited several of her couple friends over for a couples Texas Hold 'Em tournament. With as much poker as I play, and I play a ton, I hope I don't embarass myself. Losing to people who don't play much is tough, but its hard to play against people who don't really understand the game/odds/hands/betting. Hopefully, I can just stay patient, pick my spots, and come out with another big win. (The last time I had a tournament at my house, we ended up playing 2 mini-tournaments, I won both. High expectations. Oh, and none of the Youngstown people showed. Thanks.)

Tomorrow, I head out to Youngstown with my brother-in-law to join that gang and have a LAN party. I expect that I have improved quite a bit at UT2004, but will still likely get my butt kicked by M, P, and R ... again. Oh, well, it was fun last time and I'm sure it will be a blast again this time. Funny how I always drive out there to play LAN games, but can't get any of those guys to my house for poker night. I smell a Jihad.

Monday, I start a new job. A bit of a latteral move but the new firm has more long-term potential. And I have an opportunity to spread my wings a bit and get some experience in different areas of the law - although, the bulk of my time will be spent on what I am doing now.

I have a bunch of news stories I want to link to, but, as I am at work, I don't have them in front of me and don't want to spend too much time on this here. Will try to get to them tonight, maybe. Or two weeks from now.

Pirates!?! Thanks Myrrden

2005-08-04T13:06:00.000-05:00

Again, in case anyone actually visits my blog, perhaps they will be kind enough to rate me as a pirate. I can't believe I actually just typed that, but what the heck, I am a huge geek not-so-deep-down-inside.

What kind of pirate am I? You decide!
You can also view a breakdown of results or put one of these on your own page!
Brought to you by Rum and Monkey

Abortion Attitudes

2005-07-30T07:13:00.000-05:00

The Times Online has a very disturbing article about abortion, here.

First, the article states that the abortion rate in the UK hit an all time high last year. There were 185,000 women who had abortions last year, compared with 181,000 the year before. What a disturbing trend in and of itself. That works out to about 500 abortions every day all year long. That is very sad.

Second, and even more disturbing, are the quotes from Ann Ferudi of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the UKs leading provider of abortion services.

“Motherhood is just one among many options open to women and it is not surprising that younger women want to prioritise other things. We should stop seeing abortion as a problem and start seeing it as a legitimate and sensible solution to the problem of unwanted pregnancy.”

I agree that motherhood is just one option for women and that not all women today want to be mothers. However, the rest of this quote is unbelievable. Somehow, we are supposed to stop seeing the mostly unneccessary killing of unborn children as a problem, and start seeing it as a sensible solution to the problem of unwanted pregnancy. Why don't we start seeing abstinance as the legitimate and sensible solution to unwanted pregnancy ... if you don't want to be pregnant, don't have . I find abortion to be an abhorrent dismissal of personal responsibility. And this drive to see killing another human as the solution to the proble, and not the problem itself, drives me nuts.

Marriage was decreasing in popularity and unmarried couples were more likely than married couples to end an unplanned pregnancy, even if they were living together.

This statement fits well with my last post regarding the breakdown of the family unit. Just another example of what occurs when the import of the family is undermined.

Ms Furedi said that women, particularly those in the professional classes, were increasingly reluctant to take breaks that could hinder their careers.

So, rather than be responsible and not get pregnant in the first place, professional women turn to abortion. They can't take the 'break' to have a child, but there is always time in their busy day to head down to the local abortion clinic and utilize the legitimate and sensible solution to their problem of unwanted pregnancy.

To de-bunk the argument that not all pregnancies are consensual, I say I agree. While I still think there are other alternatives to abortion, I can at least see the point of not wanting to carry a baby that is the result of incest or . But, I find it impossible to believe, that there are 500 cases of this per day ... or even 50 a day. Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt it.

The Family Unit

2005-07-30T07:01:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting article from Albert Mohler's blog. The underlying article discusses the breakdown of the black community as a result of the breakdown in black family structure. We can all learn an important lesson about the importance of a stable family structure where our children have both parents living together, showing each other love and compassion.

The biggest problem I have with gay couples and single parents raising children, is that the children miss an integral part of their development. I believe it is very important for children to have a parent of each , not only to teach the same-sex child how a man or woman should be, but to show the opposite child the qualities they should desire in a spouse. That is the greatest gift a parent can give a child, a loving happy relationship that the child can .

Obviously not every traditional family can or does provide this for its children, but we can certainly hope and pray for the future of the family in our country. Nothing is more important than a strong family unit in raising emotionally balanced children who will in turn raise the same.

I know that there are situations where single parents have no choice but to be in that position. And I know my view is not 'politically correct' regarding gay couples, but a strong family is so important to the long-term heath and development of children.

Two Great E-Stories

2005-07-28T11:49:00.000-05:00

I use that term for lack of a better one.

Simon of Space is an ongoing blog-story about a man who goes through a transportation portal and loses his memory. It is written in a diary/blog format, with each day/event a separate blog entry. It is very well written and just took an incredibly interesting twist. One of the most interesting stories I have read in a very long time.

The writer of Simon of Space also did the Darth Vader blog, which was also very well written.

This guy is very talented.

It's a girl!

2005-07-22T13:59:00.000-05:00

My wife and I found out on Monday that we are having another little girl! Very exciting news. We had decided on Sophia Page as her name, but I'm not so sure about her being called Sophie, so we may go with my wife's first choice - Olivia Page. That's starting to grow on me. Can't wait to meet the newest addition to our family.

"Deeply held beliefs"

2005-07-22T11:38:00.000-05:00

The left is already begining to stir up opposition to Judge Roberts nomination/confirmation because he is a Roman Catholic. See this article by Robert Novack. Apparantely, religious beliefs now disqualify a person from being a Supreme Court Justice. The concern of the left is that a Catholic's deeply held beliefs are too ingrained for him or her to make any type of judgment not 'clouded' by these beliefs.

It is perfectly fine to have deeply held beliefs that agree with the liberal agenda, but to have deeply held beliefs in conflict with the liberal agenda is a disqualification. This elitist attitude is very disturbing. Only they are 'right' and only they can make 'correct' choices; only they know what is best for everyone. And if you happen to disagree, it shows that you are incabable of making decisions on the meaning of the Constitution.

I cannot stress enough how important it is that our Justices believe in separation of powers and are properly defferential to the Constitution, as it was drafted and ratified, and to our representative branches. This situation is best for everyone, no matter what your political views. You would not have to worry about 5 unelected, unaccountable, and life-tenured lawyers making decisions that should be decided by the people through our representatives.

Let the people decide hotly-debated political issues.

Scalia Dissents

2005-07-20T18:39:00.000-05:00

I am almost finished with this book edited and with commentary by Kevin A. Ring. Scalia Dissents is a collection of opinions written by Justice Scalia. While not finished with it, I thought I would share my thoughts about it anyway. The book contains a handful of thoughtful, well-written, sometimes funny, and always insightful opinions. Scalia is a master wordsmith. He presents his arguments in a very readable yet artful fashion. The opinions cover many of today's most important issues from free-speech to abortion to separation of powers. This book is a must read to understand how a 'constructionalist' Justice sees the role of the Supreme Court. Below are some excerpts from the book that I found particularly interesting for various reasons:

The ad hoc approach to constitutional adjudication has real attraction, even apart from its work-saving potential. It is guaranteed to produce a result, in every case, that will make a majority of the Court happy with the law. The law is, by definition, precisely what the majority thinks, taking all things into account, it ought to be. I prefer to rely upon the judgment of the wise men who constructed our system, and of the people who approved it, and of two centuries of history that have shown it to be sound.

...

It is comforting to witness the reality that he who lives by the ipse dixit dies by the ipse dixit.

Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 (1988)
Scalia Dissenting
Dealing with separation of powers. Emphasis added.

It is not reasoned judgment that supports the Court's decision; only personal prediliction. Justice Curtis' warning is as timely today as it was 135 years ago: "when a strict interpretation of the Constitution, according to the fixed rules which govern the interpretation of laws, is abandoned, and the theoretical opinions of individuals are allowed to control its meaning, we have no longer a Constitution; we are under the government of individual men, who for the time being have power to declare what the Constitution is, according to their own views of what it ought to mean."

Liberty finds no refuge in a jurisprudence of doubt.

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989)
Justice Scalia, concurring part and Concurring in the jdugment.
Dealing with abortion. Edited for format and internal citations omitted.

There is something to be said for popular abolition of the death penalty; there is nothing to be said for its incremental abolition by this Court.

Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002)
Justice Scalia dissenting.
Decision finding execution of mentally retarded criminals is cruel and unusual. Scalia notes that the 5th Amendment specifically contemplates the death penalty: "No person should be held to answer for a capital ... crime ..." and "nor be deprived of life ... without due process"

These views, of course, prevent me from joining today's opinion, which is conspicuously bereft of any reference to history. In holding that the Establishment Clause prohibits invocations and benedictions at public school graduation ceremonies, the Court - with nary a mention that it is doing so - lays waste a tradition that is as old as public school graduation cermonies themselves, and that is a component of an even more longstanding American tradition of non-sectarian prayer to God at public celebrations generally. As its instrument of destruction, the bulldozer of its social engineering, the Court invents a boundless, and boundlessly manipulable, test of psychological coercion, which promises to do for the Establishment Clause what the Durham rule did for the insanity defense. Today's opinion shows more forcefully than volumes of argumentation why our Nation's protection, that fortress which is our Constitution, cannot possibly rest upon the changeable philosophical predilections of the Justices of this Court, but must have deep foundations in the historic practices of our people.

Lee v. Wiseman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
Justice Scalia dissenting.
Emphasis added.

The virtues of a democratic system with a First Amendment is that it readily enables the people, over time, to be persuaded that what they took for granted is not so, and to change their laws accordingly. That system is destroyed if the smug assurances of each age are removed from the democratic process and written into the Constitution. So to counterbalance the Court's criticism of our ancestors, let me say a word in their praise: they left us free to change. The same cannot be said of this most illiberal Court, which has embarked on a course of inscribing one after another of the current preferences of society (and in some cases only the counter-majoritarian preferences of the society's law-trained elite) into our Basic Law.

.....

Our task is to clarify the law - not to muddy the waters, and not to exact overcompliance by intimidation. The States and the Federal Government are entitled to know before they act the standard to which they will be held, rather than be compelled to guess about the outcome of Supreme Court peek-a-boo.

United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996)
Scalia dissenting.
Dealing with a state sponsored all-male military academy.

Perhaps voters do detest these 30-second spots—though I suspect they detest even more hour-long campaign-debate interruptions of their favorite entertainment programming. Evidently, however, these ads do persuade voters, or else they would not be so routinely used by sophisticated politicians of all parties. The point, in any event, is that it is not the proper role of those who govern us to judge which campaign speech has “substance” and “depth” (do you think it might be that which is least damaging to incumbents?) and to abridge the rest.

...

The first instinct of power is the retention of power, and, under a Constitution that requires periodic elections, that is best achieved by the suppression of election-time speech. We have witnessed merely the second scene of Act I of what promises to be a lengthy tragedy. In scene 3 the Court, having abandoned most of the First Amendment weaponry that Buckley left intact, will be even less equipped to resist the incumbents writing of the rules of political debate. The federal election campaign laws, which are already (as todays opinions show) so voluminous, so detailed, so complex, that no ordinary citizen dare run for office, or even contribute a significant sum, without hiring an expert advisor in the field, can be expected to grow more voluminous, more detailed, and more complex in the years to come and always, always, with the objective of reducing the excessive amount of speech.

McConnell v. FEC, 124 S. Ct. 619 (2003)
Scalia concurring in part and dissenting in part.
Dealing with McCain-Feingold Act

The Supreme Court battle begins

2005-07-19T21:23:00.000-05:00

The president announced the nomination of Judge John Roberts for Supreme Court Justice.

This is good news for conservatives. His reputation is that of a strict constructionalist. This is a good sign that Bush is making good on his promise to only appoint Justices who believe that the Constitution means what it says and understand how important the Federal system established by our founding fathers is to our continued liberties.

The left is already stating it's reservations about how the world will end if Roberts is confirmed. How our 'rights' will not be protected. The big issue is abortion. The left calls it 'women's reproductive rights' - a wolf in lambs clothing. As if changing the name changes the procedure. Like handi-capable means anything other than handicap.

He co-wrote a brief on behalf of the government in a case in 1991 that stated Roe v. Wade 'find[s] no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution.' This brief is being touted as evidence that he will push to overturn Roe v. Wade. Perhaps those who state this don't understand that a brief written by the solicitor general is no reflection on the personal beliefs of the person writing it. The position of the government is established, then the lawyer drafts the brief to support that conclusion. The attorney does not establish the government position. (As I am writing this, a local news reporter is stating his concern over women's reproductive rights; as if women will be forced to have and become impregnated or forced to have their ovaries removed so they cannot reproduce).

If that is his personal view, he's right. Anyone who has read the Court's decision in Roe v. Wade is hard pressed to determine exactly where the Constitution guarantees a right to an abortion. While stating that the Constitution does not explicitly mention a right of privacy, the Court goes on to state it can be implied from the 14th Amendments concepts of personal liberty and restrictions on state actions. The 14th Amendment states includes no explicit right to privacy. Section 1 states that states shall not make or enforce laws that abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States; states shall not deprive anyone of life, liberty, or property without due process; nor can states deny persons equal protection of the laws. No mention of privacy or abortion. Justices had to infer a right to privacy, and then state that abortion was included inside a general right to privacy. This is not supported by the text of the Constitution, the structure of the Constitution, nor by the history of the Constitution. Robert's view was right.

It is important for all citizens that we have a judiciary that follows the laws as written by our representatives and as stated in the Constitution. To have otherwise is dangerous, and not just because I have disagreed with the Court's 70 year liberal slide. When the Court's power is not limited by the clear words of the Constitution, when the Constitution can be manipulated to mean whatever 5 lawyers sitting on the Court thinks they should mean, then we are no longer a country run by laws, we are a country run by 5 men and women. The Court becomes our dictator. We must petition the Court to change the laws. Our votes mean nothing, except to possibly lead to a judicial nominee who may share our beliefs. This is clearly not what the founders intended, or why even have a legislative branch?

The Left constantly states they are afraid of 'conservative' Justices rolling back our 'rights'. They fear this because they have been unable to make their liberal agenda law through the legislative branch but they have managed to impose their beliefs through the Judiciary. They fear a role reversal. I do to. Justices should not be imposing their will on this country, whether one agrees with their views or not. Who knows what the views of the next crop of Judicial Tyranists will impose upon us?

We should all fear conservative or liberal judges who use their positions to legislate. The left, however, need also fear judges who will no longer impose the liberal agenda upon us, judges who will defer to the laws as established by our representatives unless they clearly violate the plain meaning of the Constitution.

The most likely result of the Court overturning Roe v. Wade would be that most states would again make abortion illegal in most situations, while some would keep abortion on demand legal. That's OK with me. That's where that decision belongs, with the States.

Back to the Blog

2005-07-13T20:06:00.000-05:00

I realized it has been forever since I last wrote to myself. I'm sure no one else is reading this, but, so what.

My older daughter, Abby, just had her 'family' 3rd birthday party. For those counting, that is her second 3rd birthday party; remember the clown at the last party? We only had a couple of people over; my wife thought it would be nice to actually have cake and ice cream on her birthday ... she's a softie.

On the fourth of July, I took the family and my sister-in-law and her husband to Myrddyn's house for a party. It was really nice. It is hard to travel with children, but it was awesome to go. M and his wife are incredible hosts. It was just nice to visit with them and all the guys and gals in Y-Town. Thanks for having us and thanks for being our friends ...

My wife and I will be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary in a few weeks. I'm not sure what I am going to get her, she's hard to shop for. Probably because I am not sensitive enough to pick up on what she wants. Oh, well. Maybe I'll get her a new vacuum ... the house looks a bit dusty.

That was a joke. Please don't kill me, honey ... as if anyone else is even reading this!

Men In Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America

2005-06-28T21:19:00.000-05:00

I highly reccomend this book by Mark Levin. It is a quick read yet covers well the evolution of the Supreme Court from the least powerful branch of the government to the most powerful. It details the decisions that have revealed the Court's willingness to expand both the reach and scope of the Constitution and the federal government's powers (especially the Court's own power-grab). While not too deep on any particular issue, it covers the major decisions and swings of the Court. When one contemplates the system of government the founding fathers intended, it is not hard to believe that they are spinning in their graves and would not even recognize the Country they toiled to establish. This book documens the Court's role in that corruption.

Another thought on the recent Supreme Court takings decision

2005-06-28T21:08:00.000-05:00

It seems just wrong to me, that detainees at the Guantanamo Bay facility are being given rights, while actual Citizens of this country are being deprived of property rights.

The ruling in the non-US Citizen cases is another example of the failure of the liberal majority to actually make clear its interpretation of U.S. law. From the above linked article:

Stevens left it for the lower courts to answer the question of "whether and what further proceedings may become necessary." His opinion also did not define the intended geographical scope of the ruling. The case as presented to the court concerned only the Cuba base, but Scalia, raising the prospect of lawsuits by prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, noted in dissent that the logic of Stevens's opinion "boldly extends the scope of the habeas statute to the four corners of the earth."

Cereality

2005-06-28T21:07:00.000-05:00

I need one of these near me. The next Starbucks?

Congressmen visit Gitmo

2005-06-28T20:35:00.000-05:00

Recently 16 members of the House Armed Services Committee visited Gitmo. The most interesting aspect of this story is the quote from Representative Ellen Tauscher who said "The Guantanamo we saw today is not the Guantanamo we heard about a few years ago" (emphasis added).

I wonder how many members of Congress who have been outspoken about the 'torture' and deplorable conditions and the need to close Guantanamo Bay had actually visited the facility? I suspect not many (11 senators, 77 representatives, and 100 congressional staff) had been there before making disparaging comments about this country, the administration, and our soldiers. Perhaps Ted Kennedy and Dick Durbin could visit the facility before advocating so strongly against it.

Then there is this guy. He says the interrogation that took place during the congressional visit was staged. He knows this despite that he hasn't worked at the facility since June 2003 ... two years ago. Agenda?

Gifted classes are not just for the gifted anymore

2005-06-28T20:08:00.000-05:00

Recently, Lincoln Middle School changed its gifted honors program. Previously, gifted students were put in classes with other high achieving honors students. No longer. Now the gifted students will be grouped with students of mixed abilities. As we all know, teachers teach to the advanced students in the class leaving the less advanced in the background and don't slow the curriculum down so that the slowest students can keep up.

No point in expecting students to strive to make it into the honors program, we'll just change it so everyone can get in. We'll just lower another bar so nobody's feelings get hurt. Politically correct liberalism at its best.

2005-06-27T21:14:00.000-05:00

Hurl has written an interesting post on the pre-invasion views of democrats regarding the war in Iraq.

Kelo v. New London

2005-06-27T21:06:00.000-05:00

The United States Supreme Court issued a decision June 23, 2005 in the case of Kelo v. New London. I'll start by admitting I have not yet read the decision or the dissenting opinions. The opinions I have formed are based on what I have read in newspapers and heard on various talk shows regarding the decision.

The bottom-line seems to be that the Supreme Court upheld New London, Connecticut’s appropriation, or taking, of private property to further a development plan that would be owned by other private individuals or companies. The Supreme Court indicates that because the area was blighted and the city determined that the new development plan would be more economically beneficial than the residences, the taking falls under a public use.

As a conservative, I value property rights as a fundamental freedom. I don't think that any government ought to be taking private property from one person and giving it to another for a non-public use. I have no problem with a government taking land for construction of a park, roads, a library, etc. I do have a problem with the re-distribution of property from one class of persons to another for the sole purpose of increasing the tax base of the political subdivision. For this reason, I think the Supreme Court has taken another disastrous step down the long road of increasing government power through judicial activism.

From a purely Constitutional/Federalist point of view, I think the Court may have reached the correct result. The Court’s decision was not based on a revitalization of state’s rights, but on an expansion of government power and undermining of individual rights.

The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution includes, as its last line, "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation". The Constitution served two main purposes: to structure the federal government and to set a limit on its powers. The Federal government was to have limited powers, while the state governments were to have much broader powers - hence the Tenth Amendment. To that end, it was understood at the time the Bill of Rights were ratified, that they applied only to the federal government (most states already had the same protections built into their state constitutions, so many thought a federal Bill of Rights superfluous). Hence, the Fifth Amendment should not apply to New London, Connecticut. From this originalist/strict constructionalist view, there was no federal Constitutional issue for the Supreme Court to rule on, and it should never have heard the case in the first place. The Connecticut State Supreme Court ruled in favor of New London on the takings issue, and that should have been the final word.

Had the citizens of New London and Connecticut disagreed with the state supreme court and the state or local governments, they had several options. They could have removed the local legislature from power and replaced them with those who would follow the will of the people (not corporate or government will). They could have amended the state constitution to address this specific issue and overturn the state supreme court. They could have left for a state with better private property rights. All these options were closed once the Supreme Court decided that the taking was a federal constitutional question and that it was constitutional. Appropriation of private property for purely private use is now legal under the supreme law of the land. There is no state or city in this country where the displaced property owners of New London could go, where this would not be a possibility. I would much rather see change through action of the people governed and not change based on the will of 5 liberal Supreme Court justices.

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has, since the New Deal era, consistently expanded the meaning and reach of the federal Constitution. It has essentially created a national centralized government with near unlimited power (mostly through the commerce clause, Article 1, Section 8, clause 3). As I stated earlier, the Bill of Rights was understood to apply only to the federal government. After the civil war, the 14th Amendment was enacted. Over time, the Court has used the 14th Amendment as a basis for stating that the Bill of Rights applies to the states (the doctrine of incorporation). By doing this, the Court has been able to force the liberal/socialist agenda of activist judges on the states, undermining the federalist system, and individual freedoms. This recent decision and the medical marijuana decision, evidence the Court's willingness to step into areas of the law, not explicitly covered by the Constitution and traditionally left to the States.

Another interesting thing about this decision is that 5 liberal justices sided with corporate interests over the rights of the 'little-guy'. Liberals are always stating how they are for the little guy. These liberal justices showed their stripes, they are really for unchecked government power to collect taxes at the expense of the little-guy.

Thought-Provoking Fireworks

2005-06-26T22:13:00.000-05:00

Last night we went to see our local area's fireworks display. My nearly three-year-old liked it, but kept her ears covered the whole time. My one-year-old really enjoyed herself. She would watch the fireworks stream into the air, stare and point at them as they exploded with a myriad of colors and shapes, then fall-over laughing. The whole thirty-minutes she did this, she only stopped laughing long enough to clap her hands enthousiastically and yell 'yeah'. It is a blessing to watch children as they are so full of wonder at the world around them. Somewhere along the road of life, wonder falls the wayside and jaded and cynical jump aboard. We can learn so much from Children.

When not marvelling at my daughter's reaction, I was moved by thoughts of our founding fathers. I was filled with a sense of wonder thinking of the risk our founder's took in signing the Decleration of Independence. Many thought they were signing their own death warrants. What nerve and unwavering sense of purpose in fulfilling a great task, to form a new country based on God-given freedoms. To stand up to the most powerful country in the world with nothing but hope and determination. To wage a war undermanned and underarmed for freedom. What incredible men our founding fathers were. As "God Bless America" played and red, white, and blue bombs burst in the air, I thanked God for the men willing to stand up to their oppressors and declare their Independence that I may have the freedoms that I have and that my children may grow up with hope and promise.

The other song that really moved me was "God Bless the U.S.A". I could not help but think of the men and women fighting in Iraq, away from home on what I consider the most important non-religious holiday. They risk their lives daily fighting for freedom for an oppressed people. I pray that in the end, the war in Iraq is justified. That democracy and freedom can blossom in the middle-east. That, ultimately, peace can be brought to an area of the world that has known little peace. Only time will tell whether we, as a country, and George W. Bush, as leader, made a wise move in liberating Iraq from a brutal dictator and trying to plant a seed of hope and freedom in the middle-east. I hope that future generations will look back on this generation and these soldiers as I look back on our founding fathers, the soldiers of the American Revolution, and the soldiers of World War II - with a profound respect for the risks they took and reverence for their courage in defending freedom.

Twenty-Fifth of June

2005-06-26T20:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we celebrated my older daughter's 3rd birthday; her actual birthday is on July 11, and we will be having another little party that day, also. My wife's idea; and my kids love their birthday parties.

The party was much fun, there were 6 of her 3-year-old-or-so friends. We had a circus theme. Set up a little kids pool in the backyard. Ran the sprinkler. Fed the kids popcorn, cotton-candy, chips and hot-dogs. My little-one certainly had a good time. The clown failed to show. He was supposed to be at our house between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. My wife was upset, my daughter did not really care, and I was glad we did not have to pay the . His excuse (third-hand as my brother-in-law kind of knows him) was that he over-slept ... did I mention he was supposed to be there between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. I think he was afraid to come perform in full-dress when it was 90+ degrees outside. Oh, well, like I said, I was glad not to have to pay him.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing my kids happy. I love to watch them interact with the others. My oldest is sooo full of advice for everyone - 'we don't say ____', 'it's not nice to _____', 'that's rude', etc.

She got a gift of some sort of clothes. Looked right at the woman who gave it to her and said 'Where did you get this?' She recognizes the labels from some stores that my wife frequents, such as Old Navy, Gap, and Children's Place. I like to believe she was not beeing snooty, but who knows what goes through their minds.

It was a great day.

Friends and time

2005-06-14T21:44:00.000-05:00

While I have a feeling no one is going to hit this site, I would like to thank those of my friends who were able to make my youngest daughter's first birthday party, this past saturday. For many of you it was a long drive and I appreciate your willingness to share in her birthday festivities. Bella would like to thank you for all of the wonderful presents she received, she finds them all quite tasty.

As we get older and establish our families, time and friends have a way of slipping away. I graduated law school only 4 years ago. While in law school, I made some awesome friends. Unfortunately, I get to see them so rarely that I miss them incredibly. There were many nights of getting together and gaming (not studying), going to dinner, or just hanging out. Long nights were spent chucking dice and flipping cards. Telling jokes and insulting each other. Discussing life, books, music, and school. We have all since gotten jobs in the legal field and most moved from the Akron area - one couple all the way to the desert of southern California. Some of the others have had children, or are having children, or trying to adopt. Whatever has been the cause, we have grown apart. The bonds that I thought would last forever, seem to be slipping away. I really need to get in touch and get together with them more often. My heart aches as I sit here and think of all the good times we had and cherish the time spent together.

My older daughter turns 3 next month. It feels like yesterday that my wife's water broke and we rushed (after she took a shower and called everyone we knew) to the hospital. After about 6 hours of agony, my wife gave birth to our first child, a beautiful little girl. She fit snugly from my palm to the crook of my arm. Now, it's all I can do to carry her, when she even wants to be carried. Being a father has been a dream; I never really understood what a gift being a parent was until I became one. But, she is a constant reminder that time is fleeting. Carpe Diem,

I miss you all very much.