And we're off!

We're on our way to Arkansas today. Surprisingly, we're almost ready to head out and we're going to be stunningly close to my target departure time of 7:00 a.m.

I've got to look up the address for the hotel we'll be staying at, and make sure we have breakfast covered.

We'll let you know how it went.

"The tyrant always has a pretext for his tyranny." - Consider that in relation to the recent discussions about torture.

Happy 4th, Everybody

Source: Our Founders, linked from Indiana University School of Law

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

My First Day of Vacation

We cleaned the house, cleaned the bathrooms, changed the cat litter, washed the dishes, took out the trash, cut the grass, swept the driveway, cleaned out the minivan, got the oil changed, got the inspection done, cleaned the bedrooms, did laundry, swept, mopped, edged, went grocery shopping, barbequed, and saw the Apple swallow a mancala marble.

We've not had a vacation since just after I took the bar back in 2007. That year, we went to Indiana to visit family.

This year, we're going on vacation again - to visit family. This time, however, we're going to Arkansas. It's to see family, but on a more serious matter - the brother in law is going to Iraq to serve for a year. His unit's been called up. We're looking forward to seeing him off, and wish him well while he's over there.

Sarah Palin is Quitting

At the close of her statement, she quoted General Douglas MacArthur, "we are not retreating, we are advancing in another direction." This, of course, is a euphemism for retreating, which, in part makes it an interesting choice to close with by the soon-to-be former Governor.

I found it interesting that she chose to quit, but even more interesting was the "very clear" reason she gave - to "effect change," which is a rather vague reason, to say the least.

I'm sure there will be pundits all over on both sides of the political spectrum giving reasons for her departure, some more truthful than others, some more partisan and defensive or offensive than others, but I think at the end of the day what we need to remember is that we came within 4 percentage points (8 million votes) in a national election of having a politician who couldn't handle the spotlight of the Alaskan Governor's office for a full term elected to the office of the Vice President.

In a final note - the man she quotes, General MacArthur was fired because he didn't respect the authority of the President, in her statement, she alludes to a lack of respect for the current President...

Just a question

But, how did a 5-4 ruling in a case that had 11 of 21 justices that ultimately held any sort of opinion on the case supporting the position of Justice Sotomayor become a 9-0 smackdown?

And what's up with Justice Alito's concurrance?

Life is so much better with short hair

Just had to share.

A few Random Thoughts

I'm working again tonight. I worked yesterday and last night. I worked the day and night before that. Friday, I worked, but not at night. All last week I worked at night except on Monday when the network was down for maintenance.

I've put in quite a few hours, yet I think we have less money to show for it. Daycare at $2000 a month is a bit steep. Maybe next year we'll buy some tickets and fly them all up to Indiana for the summer and save a little bit.

The kids are excited about the neighborhood pool. We've been the last three days (not today - they're closed on Monday). Now I just need to get them swimming and not grasping on to my shoulders.

It rained a little today, about 5 minutes worth of drops. It's the first rain we've had in June.

I need a haircut, the Boy and the Apple need haircuts. My car needs an inspection, a taillight, gas, and a wash.

It's going to be a long night, but at least I've made up my time for not working on Friday.

Tattletales, 5 year old version

Just overheard in the living room: "Mom! (The Boy) called (the Princess) the "E" word! He called her an idiot!"

Yu-Gi-Yoh = June 25

Fifty-nine years ago today, North Korean soldiers, with backing from the Soviet Union and PRC, crossed over the 38th parallel and invaded the First Republic of Korea. The DPRK soldiers caught the ROK soldiers completely off-guard, and began routing the South Korean army and the few Americans left in country. After three years of bitter fighting, leaving approximately 900,000 Chinese, 520,000 North Korean, 400,000 UN and ROK, and 155,000 US soldiers either killed or wounded, a Cease-fire was declared, with the line being approximately where it was before the fighting began. To this day, no treaty has been signed, and these two countries are still technically at war.
Take a moment to remember those who died protecting those who couldn't protect themselves from the yoke of tyranny.

Unchanged

One of my biggest criticisms about the Bush administration was its inability to be transparent about anything. The Obama administration thus far has done somewhat better, but on the issues upon which I had hoped he would demonstrate "change," we are seeing slow, if any, progress.

When asked at the press conference yesterday about Neda in Iran, President Obama was interrupted during his answer. As Glenn Greenwald (I'm telling you, you need to read him!) writes:

As Obama was answering -- attesting to how "heartbreaking" he found the video; how "anybody who sees it knows that there's something fundamentally unjust" about the violence; and paying homage to "certain international norms of freedom of speech, freedom of expression" -- Helen Thomas, who hadn't been called on, interrupted to ask Obama to reconcile those statements about the Iranian images with his efforts at home to suppress America's own torture photos ("Then why won't you allow the photos --").

The President quickly cut her off with these remarks:

THE PRESIDENT: Hold on a second, Helen. That's a different question. (Laughter.)

Of course, Ms. Thomas has a salient point, and one that deserves an answer, but she didn't get it. The most effective way to ensure that our nation doesn't repeat the travesties of the previous administration is to get all the dirt out in the open. Show the photos, let the country and the world see what we were when governed by a compassionate conservative.

Greenwald's article is superb, and truly deserves reading, not just for the commentary on this important issue, but also because he provides further evidence that the Conservative Bloggers are somewhat foolish in their criticism of President Obama fielding a question from the Huffington Post (one of the most difficult questions of the conference, he notes)...

All around good stuff.

I'm Really Starting to Dig Glenn Greenwald

Here he goes to town on NPR and their refusal to call a spade a spade (or torture "torture). Can't summarize, he does too good a job - just read the whole thing.

What, Exactly, would happen?

What would happen to the people of Iran if President Obama came out directly in support of the protesters? We have a nation, Iran, that is sovereign, whose people are reacting to widespead voter fraud, who are (apparently) rejecting the putative leader of the nation after the fraudulent vote, the same man who came in to power with the "American bogeyman" concept in place. A softer response helped lead to the position where dialogue was possible, maintaining such silence will do nothing but aid the cause of those who want change over there, as it denies Ahmadenijad a foil, a target for fearmongering. As long as we remain neutral, it's the Iranians' fight. Once we take sides, then the protesters are part of us, which weakens their position. It's simple, but it seems to be lost on the Neoconservative Right.

Perhaps Matt Steinglass is right in his binary reasoning hypothesis...

Fatherhood is

Listening to your five year old son sit on the can with the door open singing "Footloose."

Impact

So, I've watched most of the new miniseries episode of Impact this evening. I'm somewhat underwhelmed.

First off, Natasha Henstridge, while an attractive female lead, is hard to buy as a world-renowned astronomer. But more unlikely is the concept of people in two different parts of the United States, in England, and in Germany all watching a meteor shower at the same time, all in the middle of the night, and all with perfectly clear skies overhead. Seriously - at least make an attempt at reasonability...

Happy Father's day, everyone!