Change the Second Amendment in Order to Honor it

   President Obama will tell you the right to keep and bear arms is not being infringed.
   "The evidence tells us that in states that require background checks, law-abiding Americans don't find it any harder to purchase guns whatsoever. Their guns have not been confiscated. Their rights have not been infringed," he said in his speech Jan. 5.
   I would wonder, though, for I do not remember the Second Amendment saying, "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." The way the Founding Fathers wrote it, doesn't say, "the right of law-abiding citizens," it says "the right of the people." 
   If we respect our Constitution, we will amend it. If we are going to have any gun control, we must. To ignore the wording of the Second Amendment is wrong. I don't see what great harm it will do to change the wording to say, "law-abiding citizens" or "those who have not been convicted of violent crimes." If we want background checks, let's make it legal by changing not just some law, but the law that matters most.
   Or should matter most.
   I

If They will be Less Inclined to Throw Punches, then this is Good

   If Utah Coach Larry Krystkowiak canceled next year's game with BYU for the right reason, it might have been the right move. If you can send a message to the players that fighting is not acceptable, if you can persuade them not to resort to punching each other out, well, that is a good thing.
   Successfully teaching youth to behave is to be commended.
   Only thing is, Krystkowiak should be faulting both sides. I didn't read the story close enough to know whether he is, perhaps, but it seems, from what I read, he was only faulting BYU. The history of the rivalry contains thrown punches on both sides. Both sides need to rein it in. Both sides need to learn constraint. The lesson is there to be learned not only for BYU, but for Utah.
   If the cancellation makes them less inclined to resort to fisticuffs, then the move is a good one. I hope, though, that once the message has sunk in on the players, the series is resumed.

Rivalries are too Dangerous, and Should all be Canceled?

   I'm thinking most rivalry games could be canceled, if this is the reasoning. The University of Utah has announced it won't play BYU in basketball next year, due to the danger. One of BYU's players took a swing at a Utah player in this year's game.
   There is a danger someone will get angry and take a swing in any basketball game. One could argue, then, we should cancel them all. Rivalry games are especially intense. The BYU-Utah rivalry doesn't stand alone in the realm of rivalries in which players have taken swings at each other. So, why not cancel them all? Once the intensity of playing a foe reaches rivalry status, that signifies the game has reached the level where it should be canceled, right?

People Would Start Staying Home and Out of Public Places

  As I went to bed last night, I did think on what a parent would do if his or her child were in imminent danger. Remember, I suggested that how we protect a child, might be the way we should protect ourselves in these days of mass shootings. I suggested that if our wee little ones were endangered, we would swoop in with loving arms and snatch them out of harm's way. And, I suggested one equivalent, then, would be to take our children out of schools, and to take ourselves out of the theaters, and malls and such.
   And, I acknowledged that that isn't practical.
   As I thought about it while going to sleep, though, it occurred to me that this is exactly what will happen if this gets serious enough. I doubt it will get that bad, but if the mass shootings became common enough, people would start taking their kids out of school. They would start staying home, themselves, instead of going to malls and theaters.
 

 

Would be Fun to be a Practicing Journalist, to Write about Ammon Bundy

 
   Would be fun to be a practicing journalist at this time. For that matter, it would be fun if I had time to go to Bend, Oregon, to do pieces for this blog.
   There are fun stories that could be written. If so many people do believe in this retreaded Sagebrush Rebellion thing, why are not more joining in? Ammon Bundy invited them over, but I haven't heard that he had any takers from his plea for others to come join the occupation. I could interview some Utahns who believe believe in militias for the purpose of reining in government, and ask them why -- if they believe in this type of thing -- why aren't they rushing to join in? To busy? Have to stay here because they can't leave their jobs? Or, are the Bundys too fringe?
   Are there any Bend, Oregon, locals involved? How do the folks in Bend feel about the federal lands being turned over to them? Quoting them would make for a good story. 
   It would be fun to go visit the occupation, just to learn more as to who is involved, and if most of them belong to an existing militia, and to find out what the name of the militia is, and learn a little of its history. It would be fun to get their opinions as why they joined the cause and what led them to do so. And, I'd ask them their views on militias. That could be a relevant article. 
   What federal lands are they demanding be turned over to the locals -- just the land there in Oregon, or federal land everywhere? Where's Cliven? Is he in ill health, or why hasn't he joined them? Now, there's a story waiting to be written.
  What about back in Nevada? Whatever became of Cliven Bundy's situtation there? Is he still resisting to pay grazing fees? Are his cattle still grazing without the fees being paid? Why not have a similar occupation there? I'd ask Ammon why he is not having his occupation there? If it is he that believes in this, and not the people in Bend (admittedly, that is yet to be established), why not keep it to Nevada and not bother Oregon?
   Which brings back one more story. What do the locals in Nevada think of the Bundys? Have their views changed? Would they want a land hold up such as this taking place in their community?

Tile and Gout

   There was an advertisement about tile and grout this week, and I thought they said, tile and "gout," so, just having learned I have gout in my toe, I called them up to take advantage of their offer. It turned out to be inexpensive, for me, as they charge by the foot, and I only needed one foot. 

How We Would Protect Children, Might be the Way to Protect Ourselves

   Protect the child, and you protect the adult. I can't help feeling there is some solution in considering how we would protect our little children if they were under attack. Yes, I know, many of the attacks have, indeed, been on school children, and it hasn't inspired us to do anything particular to ward off the mass murders.
   I still can't help but think there is some solution in considering the problem from this vantage point. When the children are at risk, the instinct is to do whatever it takes to protect them.
   So, what could we do? I stop only briefly to consider this, for it is already long past bedtime.
   For one thing, you don't leave the child in harm's way. You run to the child, swoop him up, and carry him to safety. So, how does that translate into protecting our schools from attack, and, likewise, to protecting adults? Do we swoop in and take our children out of school, and take everyone out of movie theaters and public places?
   Doesn't seem we can do that. That doesn't seem to be the answer.
   Guess I'll go to bed and think on this some more.