The Return Of The Wild West?

"Don't take your guns to town son
Leave your guns at home Bill
Don't take your guns to town"

- Don't Take Your Guns To Town - Johnny Cash

January 1, 2016 will be a day marked in Texas history as it will be the return of open carry for handguns.  Not since the 1800's has the populace legally been allowed to do this.  Texas was a much different place then, filled with outlaws, Comanche, and other assorted ruffians and undesirables.

Texas has always been a state that has been splendidly different from all the others in the Union, especially when it comes to gun laws.  You may remember from watching the national news, if not seeing them up close and personal in Austin or the Metroplex, the Texans campaigning for open carry with long guns(rifles or shotguns) slung on their shoulders.  Some people were made to feel uncomfortable in traffic, restaurants, and the capital building seeing non-badge wearing folks with AR-15s and AK-47s.

Carrying or displaying these long guns openly is totally legal in Texas while it is illegal, at least up until the new year, to do the same with handguns.  Handguns have to be concealed and the owner is required to have a Concealed Carry Permit, which requires a written test, shooting test, and a  background check to get.  Open carry will still require the owner to have a concealed permit.

My concerns about this are twofold: making the firearm non-fan citizenry feel uncomfortable with seeing armed people around them and gun owners becoming targets for criminals.  I remember hearing how much people were put off by the actions of some of the open carry proponents when they took their guns into restaurants and aggressively followed a man who had contrarian opinions to theirs.  I feel that it was a matter of just because you could do something did not mean that you had to.

I feel that people who open carry will be targeted by others.  Open carriers could be attacked by criminals who try to get their firearm(s) either by attacking them or robbing their home.  More likely, however, is that they will be targeted by other people's ridicule.  I feel that it will be an argument they will have to make over and over again.  Texans really do like to speak their minds, after all.

It remains to be seen what good or bad will come from this new law.  There is the potential that this could be a crime deterrent - that this could lead to what the mainstream media refers to as "the one good guy" phenomenon.  On the flip-side, this new law could lead to more gunfights and people being shot because it is harder to determine just who the "good guy" is.

If I Needed Someone

I just recently got out of a multi-year relationship.  The end was sudden, but for people who know me, not really unexpected.  What has been most interesting has been reconnecting with people who I had fallen out of touch with for years.

One of the biggest victims of my relationship was with one of my three best friends.  I have known this person for 15 years and he and I have gone through hell and high water together.  He dislocated his shoulder jumping from my car while it was in motion, I was best man at his wedding, we have laughed and cried together.  We committed numerous crimes and misdemeanors together.  When I was telling him about the demise of my relationship, he went on to tell me about the demise of his marriage.  It had only been three years that they had been married.

These were two people who had been through so much together.  They started dating in college when they met one another in the apartment complex's pool.  There had been dates, fights, the death of a parent, so many numerous beginnings and endings which only seemed to strengthen their relationship.  Now it seems like their epic has come to its conclusion.

Through Facebook I looked through my friends and saw a lady friend from college who I had not spoken with in some years.  Through her I found out that she had a 4 year old son and had been divorced for approximately a year.  She opined that getting married is a huge mistake for anyone and that she would never do it again.  She says that is a condition of any relationship that she enters now.  She will only allow so much of herself to be available to a significant other and keep the rest for herself.  This system has given her her desired amount of freedom and happiness.

When looking at the multitude of people I know who have just gotten out of serious relationships, the most common thing that I'm seeing is people shutting themselves off from dating or any other sort of entanglements.  For many of these individuals, this period of romantic isolation can be measured in many months if not years.  The question I have is, what will be my next move?

Shame!

Today Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. The world watched and collectively hoped for a new beginning, a return to America's place of being admired the world over. What the country and its people should be ashamed of is how the crowd jeered the outgoing president. How the people could actually sing "Nah nah nah hey hey hey goodbye" as he was leaving was so incredibly disrespectful. Even if you cannot respect the man, you must respect the position of president. How truly disgusting.

A New Election - Same Old Story

Here we are with the latest presidential campaign and as always it is interesting to watch. We have the Republican National Convention winding down with the Democratic one having concluded last week. Despite the fact that we have all new candidates, we have the same twin specters of hypocrisy and idiocy.

Let us take a look at the Democratic party. We are presented with a man with an interesting personal story. A man who is a product of the American dream. A man who rose from humble beginnings to be Ivy League educated, a fine attorney, and then a senator for the state of Illinois. He is not just a gifted orator, but someone who can captivate all those around him and believe in his message of change. He will bring about change as the president. Change!

However, when he announced who is running mate would be, he revealed him to be Joe Biden. Yes, Joe Biden from Delaware who has been a prickly, self-promoting blowhard in government for over 30 years. Joe Biden, a solid member of the establishment that Obama is supposed to change. This makes absolutely no sense as it is a direct contradiction to what he is supposed to stand for as a Washington outsider.

When we look at the Republicans, we look at a candidate who also has an interesting story. He is the son of an admiral, a combat pilot, a prisoner of war, and an experienced politician. He is the opposite of his Democratic adversary in almost every detail and could be considered the epitome of his own party, that of a bunch of old, rich white men.

When he chose his running mate, the nation was quite surprised - he selected a woman. Not just any woman, but a woman who has been a mayor, governor of Alaska, mother of five, an athlete, and even a runner-up in the Miss Alaska competition. She is the most popular governor in the country and was successful in fighting and eliminating corruption in her state. She is the face of the future of the Republican party and she seems like a character that is too good to be true.

The Republicans were quite happy with McCain's decision but the Democrats apparently were not. The party that is supposed to embrace minorities(women, gays, immigrants, people of color, etc.) decided to attack her as being inexperienced, foolish for not being home raising her 4 month old child(that was quite possibly not even hers, no less!), and just a pretty face.

Despite the fact that she was a mayor of a town and then governor for the past two years, that means nothing. Nope, that useful experience she has of leading people and managing fiscal budgets certainly would not prepare her for the vice presidential position as back-up to the president, for attending all those important state funerals, and making the tie-breaking vote in the Senate. It is funny how someone could have vastly less experience as a senator, run for president, and that would be considered okay. Obama has spent the entirety of his career as a senator campaigning for the presidency. The hypocrisy is sickening.

It will be interesting to see how this develops. Presidential elections seem to bring out the worst in people and watching the talking heads on television is quite entertaining. Whoever wins will lead the country for at least 4 years and provide fodder for all the cartoonists and comedians. Let us hope that it does not devolve into hanging chads and accusations of a stolen election.

Apple Craps On Early Adopters Once More

Yesterday was the much anticipated release of the new iPhone 3G, the latest incarnation of Apple's uberphone. Last year's release was spectacular as people wanted to be the first on their block to have this revolutionary pocket computer. This year has proven no different.

About a month or so after its release, Apple dropped the prices on the iPhone citing that is the norm in the tech world. Despite this being true, the nerd rage of the masses - who camped out for not mere hours but days - reached the ears of Steve Jobs. He announced that all of these early adopters would be credited the drop in price. The people who waited a month or so still laughed at them.

Here we are a little more than a year later and the new iPhone has created a very strong buzz. It looks virtually identical to the ver.1 but now has an additional color if you decide to get the 16GB version - white. The big selling features for ver. 2 of the iPhone are 3G speeds which are on average 2.8 times faster than the first version's EDGE technology and the inclusion of GPS. Apple has also released an update to the iPhones software naming it 2.0 and this has enabled users to install software applications which are available from the iTunes store.

Unlike the first version of the iPhone, activation is now required in-store. This is where Apple's most devoted fans have run into a problem - their servers are not working. That's right folks, the early adopters are shelling out the cash for this "must have" phone and the servers won't allow the phones to sync, thus rendering it useless. There were widespread occurrences of stores not even being able to ring customers up. People who had spent so much time in line were leaving after deciding to come back when everything worked. The brave souls who toughed it out and tried to activate could only stare at their expensvie, fruit emblazoned brick. The nerd rage was overwhelming.

People who spent all of that time in line to have bragging rights about owning the new phone can only make emergency calls with them. This is a rare customer relations nightmare for both Apple and AT&T(the iPhone's sole American distributor) who each tout the reliability of their products. This would be a great time for a rival company to make a "mac vs. pc" styled commercial for their cellular service.

The iPhone is a wonderful device. The world knows this and it was released today in 22 countries. Technical snafus do happen, but this is really embarrassing for Apple, especially with all of the advertising and expectations. Yet, once again, it only goes to show that being an early adopter of the iPhone really isn't worth it.

Heath Ledger Dead at 28, Nerds Frantic Over Status of New Batman Film

It was with a great sense of shock that I read that Heath Ledger had died. I had just sat down at the computer after coming home from work and that was the headline that greeted me on the CNN website. How could this possibly be?

Heath was not one of my favorite actors, although he had made quite a few good films in his brief career. I was curious to see what his version of one of my favorite villains would be like in the new Batman movie. He never really seemed to be tabloid fodder aside from one posting by Perez Hilton, where Perez wondered why Heath was no longer sexy.

In this day of celebrities caught in self destruct mode(Brittany, Lindsay, Amy, etc.), I was amazed that this rather quiet celebrity was outlived by these people. His autopsy today was inconclusive, but there were sleeping pills and supposedly other drugs found at the scene. There are rumors of drug abuse in his past, but they are still putting together his recent past together.

What was almost as shocking were the anguished cries of movie nerds. Not that this talented person had died and left behind a 2 year old daughter, but would their precious Batman be released without any problems. Imagine how awful it would be if they had to to do reshoots and the star is too dead to help them. Oh, the inconvenience!

Well, these folks can rest easy as the film is actually in post production. It remains to be seen if this will be the performance of a lifetime. I certainly hope that it is.

He Did It Again

Floyd Mayweather knocked the undefeated Ricky Hatton out in the 10th round. Can anyone shut this man up?