A Northern Foray

Shelly and I took a brief trip to Maryland this weekend (in fact, I'm still there as I write this). Rather than enduring the mind-numbing, Friday-night drive, undoubtedly complicated by the perpetual mass-exodus traffic from our crime-ridden federal capital, we hopped a brief flight from RDU airport. Dropped off by an accommodating Erika, we discovered we had misjudged the departure time of the flight. No worries- we got on just fine, although the security people were slightly troubled by the three ounces of after shave lotion in my toiletry bag.

In fact, I was actually impressed with Southwest's service. The flight we were to board landed a few minutes late, but they emptied the plane within 15 minutes, had all of us aboard in about 10 minutes, and had the plane in the air five minutes after that. I would probably come home more often if the trip were only an hour long! We arrived home just in time to catch UNC overcome USC, despite trailing 16 points at halftime.

As we had no transportation, Jen and Tim had to make an arduous drive of their own to see us, and this after enduring the trials of Puppy Class. Shelly and I went out to Damon's in Crofton with them for lunch, then I accompanied them back to Aunt Linda's house, where I finally met the infamous Josie, Stainer of Rugs, Interrupter of Sleep. Here of some pertinent pictures of said afternoon:

I returned home at approximately 4pm, where I checked Shelly's progress on her Law School work, and where nothing else noteworthy occurred. We did watch A Good Year, starring Russell Crowe in one of his post-telephone-throwing roles.

Yesterday, in an exceptionally rare event, the entire extended family came over, and through-out the whole afternoon, steadfastly resisted my efforts to photograph the entire group. Grandpop was down from New Jersey, having arrived Friday, and Sunday, Danielle and Brooks' entire families made appearances. Most memorable incident- Gabrielle's ear-splitting screams, brought on by the horrifying prospect of having her hair washed by Mom and Dad's sprayer. We had a huge lunch of holiday proportions, then settled down in time to see UNC blow their championship chances against Georgetown. They might have won if the game were 30 seconds shorter, but they just stopped playing with about 10 minutes to go. There's always next year. But anyway, here's a picture taken before lunch:

The night ended with two games of Yahtzee, the like of which I hope to never see again (I did BAD).

Ok, that's all for now. If you hear of a Raleigh-bound Southwest flight going down in flames tonight, say a prayer for my soul! And Shelly's too, if you have time! ;)

Post of Minimal Impact


That last might well go down in history as the least read and treasured post ever! Usually, when I don't write for a while, some of you comment and chastise me for my neglect. My Second Amendment post seems to have stymied you from even doing that! I have one more thing to say on the matter, but in deference to your profound lack of interest, I'll do it at the end of this post.

Well, as you may have guessed, a great deal has occurred since last Saturday, so I'll dive right in.

Breaking (seven day old) news: My parents aren't moving down! That's right, you heard it here first! Contrary to long-standing traditions that you actually repair houses you're trying to sell, George (the homeowner) steadfastly refused to take that customary action. Instead, he preferred to (long-list music, maestro!) blame the inspector, demand reimbursement from Mom and Dad's real estate agent, agree to fix it then notify my parents a week later he'd changed his mind, offer to put the needed repair money into an escrow account with both my father's and his name on it, propose that they all wait sixty days to see if the warped wooden floor boards would lay down again and be as they were before (a ludicrous idea that my cousin Scott quickly assured us was asinine), and finally, offer to sell the house as is and give my parents the money to fix it, provided they did this within 30 days. This last proposal might perhaps have been doable, had he not also tacked on a requirement that he now be allowed to stay in the backyard apartment for 90 days and forbid my parents from coming within 100 feet of it. Now with solid evidence that the house lay close to some unseen, extra-dimensional border with Fantasy Land, which was sending out psychic vibrations affecting the mental capacities of poor George, my parents quickly contacted their real estate agent and terminated the deal. They now must decide whether to find a new, habitable, North Carolinian house, or call off the entire venture.

Speaking of North Carolina, as of now, we've managed to win two NCAA games, and have advanced to the quarter finals against USC, who handily defeated Texas tonight. Incidentally, this bout was foreseen by me last week, when I turned in my bracket at work. Regrettably, the other four quarters of the bracket have not shaped up so well, starting with Duke's loss in the first round (not that I was overwhelmed with grief by their loss).

Just as an update to the Verizon problem, don't be incredibly surprised if Shelly and I suddenly switch to completely new phone numbers next week. After two months of phone calls, trying to move the two of us to a family plan, which they have been inexplicably unable to do, I was told yesterday that we will be receiving no billing credit for last month (during which, you'll remember, we were supposed to have been under the cheaper plan, but for Verizon's incompetence). This caused an outburst of Biblical proportions on my part, the like of which hath not been seen since the world was young. Suffice it to say, if they hold firm in that position this week when we call them back, they'll be receiving about half of what they think they should be getting (I'll pay them what we should have paid under our plan, and not a cent more), and screw any early termination fee. Bring on the creditors if it comes to that.

Moving on to a much more soothing subject, Shelly has returned! My wayward girl spent last weekend travelling to Sunset Beach (with Law School Melissa, amongst others), came back for two days in the middle of last week, then set off for Charlotte. She just got back today (an hour early, thwarting my plans to buy her flowers and vacuum and dust the apartment before she arrived). To make up for this, I took her to dinner at Nantucket Café, the most over-priced restaurant south of...well, Nantucket. I got a seafood kabob with shrimp, scallops, and three kinds of fish! I do love tasty animals!

What's that? You've heard enough of my drivel, and want to see pictures from Shelly's trip? (You've got some attitude, missy!) Alright, but then I'm talking about something else!


Here are two pictures for some meal that they apparently took whilst away at Sunset Beach. Your guess is as good as mine!
Oh, alright! Here's a shot off the deck at the back of the house. Those poor, put-upon law students! Can't even afford a decent vacation!

And speaking of Charlotte, she came home on Tuesday (and cried most of that night). The real parenting begins now, Jason and Erika! To celebrate/help out, Shelly made dinner Wednesday night, which we took over there for them. All went well, except for an unfortunate incident with the Dr. Pepper. But even sticky, carbonated soda spraying over half the kitchen (the other half being blocked by Yours Truly, who had the misfortune of opening the bottle) wasn't able to spoil our good time. By then, you see, Charlotte had become used to her new environment, and slept most of the evening. The evening came to an end all too soon; we were forced to beat a hasty retreat when Erika broached the subject of 'feeding' Charlotte.

And now, everyone's dismissed. This last part is just for me!

Please note this editorial by the New York Times. Here's a little sample for those disinclined (pretty much everyone, by historical standards):

A federal appeals court panel in Washington has marched blithely past a
longstanding Supreme Court precedent, the language of the Constitution and the
pressing needs of public safety to strike down Washington’s law barring
residents from keeping handguns in their homes.

In the opening paragraph, the NY Times manages to list three fallacious arguments in favor of their viewpoint!

1. Supreme Court 'precedent'- the Supreme court precedent, which they manage to quote completely out of context later in the article (which you know, from reading my post, wink wink), is arguable at best in what it says. Strike one.

2. Language of the Constitution- the Times' glib listing of this would be laughable if it weren't so dishonest. Notice how they don't even print the relevent language until later in the editorial, which when read, doesn't say what they purport it does. Also, liberals much smarter than the Times' editors have spent seventy years trying to argue the Second Amendment's text away, and even their logic is difficult to follow (see the Ninth Circuit's 'reasoning' in the Lockyer case; even they can't figure out how to explain away the word 'keep'). Strike two.

3. Pressing needs of public safety- the Times does realize that we're talking about DC here, right? And that this law has been on the books for thirty years, with no measureable benefit to public safety? In fact, every indication is that this law is extremely detrimental to public safety! Good Lord in heaven, doesn't the Times have access to the internet, so as to actually research DC's crime rate?

Strike three; yer out! And that's just the first paragraph!

Alright, goodnight everyone! Wish me luck on my module this Tuesday, I have one left!

Ruling of Transcendent Importance

This post is completely about the recent ruling by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals that the Second Amendment is an individual right. If that matter doesn't interest you, stop reading now.
Is anyone still here? I'll operate on the assumption that someone is.
Let me just give you some background on this, and why it is important. First off, the text of the Second Amendment:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The meaning of this amendment, and its application to American life, has been hotly debated for about the last fifty years. The last time this matter was taken up by the Supreme Court was the Miller case in 1939. This case, in which a person was arrested for illegal possession of a sawed-off shotgun, was the first test of the National Firearms Control Act of 1934 (the first major, sweeping Federal law on the subject), which outlawed said weapon. Miller (the defendant) was arrested for having a sawed-off shotgun, but was released because the US District Court found that the Act was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The government appealed the ruling, which eventually made its way to the Supreme Court. The SC overturned the lower court decision.
However, this is where the debate gets tricky. The SC overturned the lower court decision because it could find no evidence that a sawed-off shotgun was useful in the service of the militia. The reason for this was that no evidence was presented to the Court at all, as the defendant, Miller, had died in the interim and had no one there to present his side of the case (it has since been established that such weapons were in fact used in the trenches of WWI, a piece of evidence that might have caused the Court to rule in a different way).
However, the decision has since been interpreted by all the Circuit Courts of Appeal (one step under the SC) to mean that, because Miller was not a member of a militia, he had no right to appeal under the Second Amendment. This has become known as the Collective View of the Second Amendment, meaning that people only have a right to have guns if they are enrolled in a government-sanctioned, organized force (today, the National Guard is the closest we have an organized militia, an armed forced that is only called up in times of danger or disaster). However, as the National Guard, or militia as the Courts have defined it, acts virtually at the will of the government itself, this interpretation effectively renders the Amendment meaningless: Under their interpretation, the Amendment forbids the government from forbidding itself from arming its own militia (!).
However, a closer look at the Miller decision itself shows that the Court wasn't concerned over Miller's membership in a militia, but rather if the weapon involved was useful in a militia's service. The decision turned on this question: The weapon's eligibility under the Second Amendment, not the man's. To reiterate, the Court decided the weapon was not eligible because no evidence was presented showing its eligibility.
The Supreme Court has not again addressed the question of what the Amendment protects, and with near uniformity, the Appeals Courts have subsequently ruled that the Amendment does not protect an individual's right to own a gun, since they are not members of a militia (this argument itself can be effectively countered, as under US Code, all males age 18-45 are considered members of the unorganized militia, but that is another, very long argument).
The uniformity has hit the skids in recent years, though. In 2001, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in the Emerson case, ruled in favor of an Individual interpretation (that the Amendment protects a citizen's right to own a gun, regardless of membership in any militia), and in 2003, the Ninth Circuit (I'll restrain my urge to call them the Ninth Circus; many illogical decisions come from that Circuit, and they are the most overturned by the Supreme Court), in the Lockyer opinion, reasserted their support for the Collective interpretation.
Most often, when two Circuits interpret law in a fundamentally different way, the Supreme Court will step in and decide the matter, setting the precedent for all lower Courts. However, neither case actually involved the overturning of an existing law. In Lockyer, the Collectivist ruling meant that the law in question was Constitutional. In Emerson, though the Individualist viewpoint was taken, the Court decided that the law in question was still Constitutional because it was a very narrow restriction, forbidding gun ownership from someone who was under indictment (Courts have routinely ruled that even fundamental rights can be subject to reasonable restrictions; ie, the First Amendment doesn't allow you to scream "Fire!" in a crowded movie theater). Because there were no laws overturned, the Supreme Court took a pass.
Which brings us to yesterday.
The DC Circuit Court ruled yesterday that the District's gun ban violated the Second Amendment, taking a Individualist stance. The District ban requires registration of all handguns, but forbids registration of any new ones after 1976, effectively disallowing any new resident from owning a handgun or existing residents from buying new ones. Also, any shotgun or rifle must be kept disassembled and inoperable. Under an Individualist interpretation, there is no possible way that the ban could be Constitutional. The ban is the most onerous in the country, yet, mysteriously, massive levels of gun crime still continue to afflict the DC area.
The ruling came from a three-judge panel, so the next step will be for the full Circuit to review it. If the full Circuit leaves the decision intact, the Supreme Court virtually must take up the question.
Frankly, I think this is long overdue. Personally, I think the meaning of the Amendment is obvious, both from its wording and its placement in the Bill of Rights (all the others manifestly protect the rights of individuals, except where expressly noted). For too long, gun control laws of dubious value have been passed at the behest of groups who cling to the Collectivist view, despite the fact that any intellectually honest person can see how non-sensical it is, and Courts have stubbornly stood on precedent despite increasing historical and constitutional research showing the Amendment to protect Individual rights. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of an Individualist view, than all future gun laws will have to be shown to be reasonable, narrowly targeted ordinances that don't affect a good, law-abiding citizen's right of self-defense, and the abolitionists will be the ones out the arguing for the repeal of an Amendment guaranteeing a fundamental freedom to all Americans.

There's No Light on That Verizon


It was the end of January that Shelly and I called Verizon and moved our numbers onto a Family Plan. Since then, innumerable phone calls later, they still have not corrected the billing to the new, lower price. Last week, I got a call saying the problem was that Shelly's number was in a different area code (a fact they neglected to mention when I put us on the plan in the first place). But good news, all we need to do is move her to a new number in my area code. Some of you may remember last week, when Shelly sent you her new number, only to be called back and given another. Now, tonight, I find out that they're having trouble backdating the billing because Shelly has a new number. They're getting dangerously close to the point where I lose my patience and switch providers.


But now that I got that out of my system, let's get on to some good news! Heather had her baby! Here is a picture of Heather, her daughter Trinity, and her new baby (who's name I don't know because I'm a bad friend and haven't called her yet):

Congratulations, Heather!

In other news, to assist with their upcoming (and increasingly hypothetical) move, Dad bought a new Ford F-150 truck! And I just realized that, aside from reporting on it, I have absolutely nothing additional to add to that bit of jaw-dropping news! So here's the picture!

Also in DeAdder family related news, Mom secured Carolina In My Mind for our annual Outer Banks vacation this summer. We had that house two years ago, and it was sweet! Hot tub, pool, short walk to beach, four spacious bedrooms, trundle bed (it is too a luxury- ask Scott!), and a third story balcony with a great view! I can already feel the balmy breezes caressing my Credit Union cares away... I'll stop before I start sounding like an infomercial.

Just to break in here, Shelly just broached the possibility of printing invitations tonight. After the two hour ordeal last time (which still didn't yield completed invitations), I think I'd rather turn my skin inside out and take a roll in a vat of salt than try that again. Lamentably, I was not given that option; almost two hours have passed since I wrote that last sentence, the bulk of which was spent writing invitations. That darn Erika better be appreciative!
For anyone who does not know yet, Shelly and I will be in MD from March 23rd through March 26th. However, since we're flying (gasp!), we won't have our own transportation, so you'll have to come see us if you're so inclined. I'm sure most everyone is now rehearsing the excuses they'll be giving me in two weeks.
Oh, just to give you all closure about my birthday last week, thanks to everyone who called and wished me a happy one, even if you did rush me off so you could watch CSI! ;) Shelly and I celebrated by meeting Erika and Jason at Brixx. Also, thanks to everyone who sent a card- it was greatly appreciated! Danielle, yours just arrived today, and thank you for the pictures of the children! I can't believe little Christopher is in First Grade now! It seems just yesterday he was running around in (blue) diapers!
For the record, I'm really, really loathe to even ask this, but if anyone wants to make a March of Dimes for me, I wouldn't hate you for it. I have to raise $25 for work and do the three mile walk in April, so if anyone wants to help, feel free. Yes, I'm fully aware that I wouldn't if you asked me; be the bigger person, for God's sake!
In waterfowl-related news, the four honkers out on the lake now recognize me by sight and will come flying in when they see me come out on the pier. Same with Penny and Drake and a few other miscellaneous mallards. Unfortunately, there are now five male mallards and only two females, so what starts out as an innocent evening feeding quickly degenerates into a series of mad, pursued dashes around the lake. Tonight, they got so into this that two of them flew within about a foot and a half of me and barely seemed to notice. Ah, the sweet sounds of spring...
To all the college basketball fans out there, you can thank UNC (my adopted team) for Duke's loss to NC State tonight. Duke probably would have won without Henderson, who managed to get himself suspended last week for that cheap-shot elbow to Tyler Hansborough during the last 14 seconds of the Duke/UNC game. So all's well that ends well.
Well, that's quite a bit of writing, and I'm sure I've forgotten some things, but let me just leave you with this thought. It's kind of hard to hear, so make sure you turn your speaker volume waaaaaaay up before you click the link. Also, if you do this at work, that'd be even better...
Talk to you soon!