Saturday, February 17, 2018
Friday, February 16, 2018
House Surprise
Much to my surprise: Laying down click-in vinyl flooring on the cement floor of my basement pantry was every bit as easy as the hardware store promised, and it looks good too.
Not to my surprise: Now the walls want baseboards, and fresh paint.
Upgrade one thing, everything else has to kick up a notch. #HomeOwnership haha!
Thursday, February 15, 2018
It Is No Longer Too Soon
How many years since Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech and still we hear "It's too soon".
Nope. Time's up. The gun nuts had a chance to solve the problem, and wussed out.
Now I'm a practical guy. The thing to do is have a plan, and then if you can improve on it, ok. But if you don't have a plan, then shut up.
Here's the plan:
1. Nobody but cops or military get a gun that can shoot 10 people without reloading.
2. Transition: one year to turn them in and get cash. Allocate a few billion dollars to pay off gun owners.
3. After that, you get caught with something that can kill 10 people without reloading, you lose it with no compensation.
Now: you got a better plan?
1. Nobody but cops or military get a gun that can shoot 10 people without reloading.
2. Transition: one year to turn them in and get cash. Allocate a few billion dollars to pay off gun owners.
3. After that, you get caught with something that can kill 10 people without reloading, you lose it with no compensation.
Now: you got a better plan?
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Another Sad Day With The Death Cult
HOUGHT FOR ANOTHER SAD DAY: Today's gun culture is a death cult.
It worships the power to kill. Its cultists feel good at the thought that they have the power to kill, and they resist any limitation on their godhood.
That resistance to reasonable limits is the give-a-way. A thousand deaths after Las Vegas, and the Gun Cult won't even let us ban bump stocks.
The sacrifice of thousands is their offering to their god the gun. The cult leadership, like the leaders of any cult, may be in it for money and power. Cultists enrich them and in return are blessed with every trick of rhetoric to justify the right to carry the power to slaughter a classroom of children, but it all comes down to this:
If your desire to feel good because you have the power of death is more important to you than the desire of any child to live, then you can not be trusted with the power of death.
The sacrifice of thousands is their offering to their god the gun. The cult leadership, like the leaders of any cult, may be in it for money and power. Cultists enrich them and in return are blessed with every trick of rhetoric to justify the right to carry the power to slaughter a classroom of children, but it all comes down to this:
If your desire to feel good because you have the power of death is more important to you than the desire of any child to live, then you can not be trusted with the power of death.
Happy Valentines Day!
Monday, February 12, 2018
Moot Court Judging
Most of yesterday I had the pleasure of spending at UW as a presiding judge at a mock trial contest. This was very interesting and, I hope, useful.
The contestants were undergraduates (not lawyers or law students) who were arguing either side of a mock criminal case. My job was to make clear and understandable rulings on motions and objections (everyone *loved* debating hearsay!) and to keep things rolling along, which I was well equipped to do. Attorneys with actual trial experience did the scoring - a wise division of labor.
I went away feeling very good about the next generation. They had obviously worked hard and struggled to do well, and if their strategic choices were not always the best they seemed willing to learn from mistakes and move on. I would recommend mock trial judging to any lawyer with a little spare time.
It is of course part of our job as members of a civilization to help the next generation move up, but it is also personally satisfying.
The contestants were undergraduates (not lawyers or law students) who were arguing either side of a mock criminal case. My job was to make clear and understandable rulings on motions and objections (everyone *loved* debating hearsay!) and to keep things rolling along, which I was well equipped to do. Attorneys with actual trial experience did the scoring - a wise division of labor.
I went away feeling very good about the next generation. They had obviously worked hard and struggled to do well, and if their strategic choices were not always the best they seemed willing to learn from mistakes and move on. I would recommend mock trial judging to any lawyer with a little spare time.
It is of course part of our job as members of a civilization to help the next generation move up, but it is also personally satisfying.
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Not Mocking Mock Trials
Today I had the pleasure of spending at UW as a presiding judge at a mock trial contest. This was very interesting and, I hope, useful.
The contestants were undergraduates (not lawyers or law students) who were arguing either side of a mock criminal case. My job was to make clear and understandable rulings on motions and objections (everyone *loved* debating hearsay!) and to keep things rolling along, which I was well equipped to do. Attorneys with actual trial experience did the scoring - a wise division of labor.
I went away feeling very good about the next generation. They had obviously worked hard and struggled to do well, and if their strategic choices were not always the best they seemed willing to learn from mistakes and move on.
I would recommend mock trial judging to any lawyer with a little spare time. It is of course part of our job as members of a civilization to help the next generation move up, but it is also personally satisfying.
The contestants were undergraduates (not lawyers or law students) who were arguing either side of a mock criminal case. My job was to make clear and understandable rulings on motions and objections (everyone *loved* debating hearsay!) and to keep things rolling along, which I was well equipped to do. Attorneys with actual trial experience did the scoring - a wise division of labor.
I went away feeling very good about the next generation. They had obviously worked hard and struggled to do well, and if their strategic choices were not always the best they seemed willing to learn from mistakes and move on.
I would recommend mock trial judging to any lawyer with a little spare time. It is of course part of our job as members of a civilization to help the next generation move up, but it is also personally satisfying.
Ooops. Power out.
Sky glow shows burien probably still has power so this is local.
Local news says it's local so no worries. Maybe best just to turn in early. Nice to have local news blogs!
http://westseattleblog.com/.../west-seattle-power-outage-7/
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