Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Pins and Needles

I guess that SCOTUS is saving the best for last. The Court, once again, did not announce the DC vs. Heller opinion.

The following is from ScotusBlog:

Guns is not being decided today. Last opinion coming now.

UPDATE: HELLER AFFIRMED! (6/26/2008 10:12 AM EDT)

We can now predict that in addition to Justice Scalia likely writing Heller, Justice Alito is likely writing Davis v. FEC.

The Chief Justice has announced from the courtroom that the Court will issue all of its remaining opinions tomorrow at 10 a.m. Eastern.

To recap for those watching the Heller decision, it will definitely be decided tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow, the Court will issue its remaining three decisions: Heller (DC Guns), Davis v. FEC (campaign finance), and American Electric Power (energy contracts).

Clarification: while it appears that Justice Scalia has the principle [sic] opinion in the Guns case, it is not necessarily a majority opinion. It could be a plurality opinion.

What does that last one mean? (Gulp!)

UPDATE: HELLER AFFIRMED! (6/26/2008 10:12 EDT) Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm. Justice Scalia wrote the opinion. Justice Breyer dissented, joined by Justices Stevens, Souter and Ginsburg. The vote is along idealogical lines, left and right.

25 Jun 2008 by Firearms Judiciary Law and Order Second Amendment

Spider Lily

I’m wasn’t actually sure that ‘spider lily’ is the common name of this flower, but when it opened up today, it reminded me of a spider – well with six legs instead of eight. So, I searched on ‘spider lily’ and found out that this flower is actually called that:

Hymenocallis caribeae is an evergreen bulb that is native to the West Indies. It does best in full sun or very light shade. The fragrant 3 to 4 inch intricately designed white flowers are borne on top of 18 to 25 inch tall stalks in midsummer.

spider-lily.jpg

24 Jun 2008 by Home & Garden

Pooling Resources

With Gas prices so high, it appears that some Southern California moms resort to transporting their kids in a more gas conserving way. At least the kid is tied down to mom with a safety belt and wearing a helmet.

piggy-back.jpg

23 Jun 2008 by Current Events People

Wayward Brass

It was a pretty normal day at the range today, albeit a little bit warm inside. We took our usual suite of firearms – the .45s, 9mm, .357s and shotguns. We also did our usual thing by making videos and taking photos to view later and maybe post on the blog. All this was completely normal as Damsel took the video of me shooting the Glock 30 – until the eighth round, that is – the brass flew out of the breech and landed – well – in a delicate place as far as Damsel was concerned.

The red marks from the hot brass casing were visible hours later. Oh yes – I have her permission to include the ‘delicate place’ photo at the end of the video on the right.

Rated PG – this sort of brings a new definition to the ‘tap, rack, bang’ phrase . . .

22 Jun 2008 by Firearms Sports

Out of Time to Blog Today

We both attended a Utah CCW Permit class today that included shooting and a classroom session. That delayed our planned BBQ and due to ripple effect we’re just not going to be able to do anything except post one of the pictures I took today while were waiting for the truck to be serviced. Yes, this view was driving distance from the dealer.

ocean-cliffs.jpg

Taken from Point Vicente Interpretive Center, Palos Verdes, CA.

21 Jun 2008 by Photography

Dog Day Afternoon

Not much time to blog today, we had to go shopping, fill the tank ($75), sit in the patio and hang out with ‘Bear.’ Tomorrow, the truck to goes for periodic maintenance to the service department and we take the training for our Utah CCW permits.

Our vacation next month will take us to places where the permit is valid, so the maintenance for the truck and the CCW training are mandatory, as far as we’re concerned. Bear is happy for us, as you can see.

bear

20 Jun 2008 by CCW Critters

You Can’t Ride a Polar Bear to Work

bear partyI just read a pretty good editorial in the Orange County (CA) Register. The title, “You Can’t Ride a Polar Bear to Work”, intrigued me and so I read the item (hat tip Opinion Journal). So, I thought I would pass it along here. Plus, it gives me another chance to post this silly polar bear picture.

The article starts with this news item about the reversal of John McCain’s attitude toward offshore drilling:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain this week reversed his position and drew environmentalists’ wrath when he came out in favor of lifting the federal ban on offshore oil drilling. Mr. McCain apparently realizes he needs motorists’ votes more than environmentalists’ endorsements. Better late than never.

And concludes with this encouragement for McCain to similarly reconsider drilling in ANWR:

We hope that even if it’s only a crass appeal for votes, Mr. McCain rethinks his opposition to drilling in ANWR and also pledges to overcome Democrat opposition to leasing interior federal lands that may contain 1.8 trillion barrels of oil in solid shale rock, which a RAND Corp. study estimates could be enough to meet U.S. energy needs for centuries.

The U.S. realistically can’t become energy independent, but it can become energy self-sufficient by drilling closer to home, reviving shunned technologies such as nuclear power and by encouraging private companies to seek new technologies and approaches in support of that goal.

There are a lot of good points made in between the start and finish of the article. Take the time to read some interesting things about energy consumption and production in our country.

19 Jun 2008 by Environment Money and Business

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