Guns – The Ultimate Problem Solver

I try not to get into political debates or really share my political views on Facebook, mainly because I have to work with everybody and I don’t want my or their political viewpoints to compromise our personal and/or professional relationships in any way. However, I do have pretty strong opinions and try to stay abreast of current affairs. I haven’t written anything similar to this blog in quite some time, not out lack of anything to express, but just a general sense of laziness. However, I truly love to write and have been itching to write something – but wanted to make it something substantive. The recently proposed gun control legislation and 2nd Amendment arguments have really gotten me motivated and provided me with the opportunity for which I’ve been searching. I’m doing so on my blog, so people can opt in to read it, as opposed to laying it all out on Facebook for all my friends (real and virtual) to see in their various news feeds.

I’ve spent some time trying to think of the most logical way to construct my thoughts and arguments, so the one reader of this blog isn’t confused by my normal circular reasoning or back and forth positions. I hope I’ve done somewhat of a successful job with that, but you can be the judge of that. I do encourage you to express your thoughts and opinions, even and especially, if they are in direct conflict with mine.

I.  The Constant: The 2nd Amendment of the Constitution and a brief, somewhat over simplification of Supreme Court's interpretation of it.

For those who are unfamiliar with the exact wording or construction of the amendment, here is original Amendment crafted by the Founders (note that it is a single sentence):

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people  to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

I believe the Founders purposely wrote the Constitution in a broad manner, considering it as a "living document" (a document written with the intent to change with the times).  Many people (mostly the political right, are Strict Constructionists and believe it the duty of the Supreme Court to maintain the original, language and intent of the document as it was originally written.  The Supreme Court has decided in two landmark cases that provided the People with a more concrete definition of how this amendment is to be interpreted.

In 2008, the Court heard District of Columbia v. Heller.  In a 5-4 ruling, Court held that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense and struck down a District of Columbia law that banned the possession of handguns in the home.  Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the decision and noted that "[the Second Amendment is naturally divided into two parts: its prefatory clause and its operative clause. The former does not limit the latter grammatically, but rather announces a purpose. The Amendment could be rephrased, “Because a well regulated Militia is necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”  As Scalia wrote in the decision, the ruling protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home." That opinion makes gun control laws much more difficult to enact without being struck down as unconstitutional.

Then in 2010, the Supreme Court agreed to hear McDonald v Chicago.  The Court upheld the 2008 Heller case and Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the Court "...concluding that the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment right, recognized in Heller, to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self- defense...."

II.  The People's Argument, or How the Court of Popular Opinion interprets the 2nd Amendment:

The 2nd Amendment provides me the right to own a gun.  Any kind of restriction, limitation or regulation against me owning a gun violates my Constitutional Right as an American and is just plain wrong.

III.  The question(s) I posed to a couple of friends and most of my family (mostly good-ol-boys, gun love'n, and a huntin' type of crew) in response of President Obama's proposed legislation that includes 23 executive actions, toughening the enforcement of existing gun laws:

"Omg. Family, really, WTF is up with y'all being so damn worried about losing your right to own guns. Read the proposed legislation - it says nothing about banning guns from you, we'll, the felon side of the family, but not everybody else. Really, do you need an automatic for hunting? You couldn't eat the meat for all the shrapnel. Honestly, the proposed gun regulations would not affect you in one iota, except maybe a background a check - but would you want others' backgrounds to be checked? Why fight against something that in no way changes your life with guns as it currently is?

The feedback I received will most likely equal the same number of people to read this blog - zero.  However, in case I'm wrong, please weigh in and share your side.  I truly do not understand the opposition's side and reaction to the proposed legislation, as it in no way violates a sane, mentally stable individual's right to own a gun.

Yay!  I wrote something again, and it felt good.


*****Update***** (2/15/2013)

Just wanted to share this awesome Freakonomics podcast that was posted yesterday: http://www.freakonomics.com/2013/02/14/how-to-think-about-guns-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/

Busy and Tired...

Feeling very frustrated today. I've been trying to find ways to constructively rid myself of the frustration, but it's come down to just writing - which is probably the best way anyway.

I'm my own worst enemy. I know this - have known it for years. If there's a bad decision to be made, you can pretty much bet on the fact that I'll make it. Then, when I feel overwhelmed, frustrated, tired, taken for granted and advantage of, I have nobody to blame but myself, which then just makes me more frustrated. It's a toxic cycle and I know it. My biggest problem is actually taking the steps to stop behaviors and habits, breaking the cycle. It's so easy to keep things as they are, even if they are unhealthy and not in your (my) best interest. Changing things for the positive, learning to not let people take advantage of me, take me for granted, live, eat and breathe healthier is tough. It's a lot of work - and to be honest, most days I'm not up for it.

I need to start practicing the word NO more often, then use it. Then not feel bad for using it. I need to surround myself with people who are good for me, absolutely want to be with me, want the best things for me and don't really want anything from me. One of the problems is that I'm a giver - always have been. I don't know how to not give - except to myself. I need to start giving myself more of what it good for me. I'm in bad habits with myself.

Ugh......back to it. I know this too shall pass, and brighter days will avail, but it's all just very tiring and gloomy right now.

Lester Burnham is my alter ego

So, I'm at that point in my life (again) that I kind of need to re-invent myself.  Translated, that means it's time to get a "real" job again.  I've been doing event planning and consulting and whatever other projects my business partner and I can manage to serve up.  But he's now got a full-time job, another beautiful child, and a family - so our projects sometimes become (understandably) overwhelming for him to manage in addition to everything else.  I believe we will continue to do a few staple projects (mainly the 48 Hour Film Project) together, but it's time for me to find something in addition to those.  The problem is, I don't know what I want to do.

I do know, I feel a lot like this:



My background is in management, marketing, etc. but I don't really feel much into that either. I have a great education, and am pretty business savvy, but I often feel like an interview with me might go something like Lester Burnham's interview at Mr. Smiley's from American Beauty:



Once, when my daughter (Shelby) was around seven or eight, we went to First Night Atlanta - the big New Year's Eve party Atlanta hosts every year.  We were in the "family" section part of the giant street party since they had huge blowup bouncy things, face painting and other stuff kids seem to enjoy.  Well, needless to say, the place was packed with people.  The lines for the jumpy things and face painting were extremely long.  We walked from one attraction to another hoping to find shorter lines, so she might get to partake in some of the New Year's Eve excitement of the event I had been building up inside her for days.  (Sometimes, kids would prefer to do absolutely nothing so events and outings take work - creating anticipation, mystery and the want to go.)  Well, after walking around for about an hour, Shelby immediately halted, made a huge right-foot stomp to the ground, raised both hands and shouted, "I WANT TO DO SOMETHING FUN, RIGHT NOW!"

I knew just how she felt.  I feel that way a lot.  Often times, I think back about how things were going to be different when I grew up.  I was going to do fun things - all the time!  But, we all learn soon enough that most of the time, living isn't as fun as we once thought - or making a living isn't as fun, rather.  When I went into the film industry, I thought that I was finally getting that job that was going to make earning a living fun.  I do admit, the events, movies, meeting people are fun, but planning and managing events are often like herding cats.  It gets exhausting.  Finding sponsors (asking people and companies for money and free product) is exhausting and deflating because, more often than not, you get turned down, or rejected.  Feeling rejected is not fun - even if it's "just business."  It is, however, the most "fun" industry in which I've worked.

So, I guess I should close this for now.  I wanted to write though because I kinda feel like I've lost my mojo and writing has always helped me get it back a little, probably because expressing myself helps me to get back on a track, old or new.  I used to write often and always got great feedback.  I loved writing funny stuff and hearing how much people enjoyed it. Maybe I'll start trying to do a bit more of that.  Well, this was fun - and, I didn't even have to wait in any lines.

Mom's Cancer

I spoke to my mom on Wednesday and found out more about the lung cancer. It's Stage 3BT4 (you can follow exactly what that is here). It's basically advanced lung cancer with tumors. Here's a breakdown of her specific type:

Definition of Stage 3B Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Stage 3B lung cancer is defined as a tumor of any size that has spread to distant lymph nodes, has invaded other structures in the chest (such as the heart or esophagus), or has a malignant pleural effusion (fluid build-up containing cancer cells between the layers lining the lungs).

T4 – The tumor is any size, but is located in the airway, or has invaded local structures such as the heart, or the esophagus. A tumor is also considered T4 if cancer cells are present in the space between the layers lining the lungs (malignant pleural effusion).

I spoke with her on the phone last night and she started coughing. I was immediately reminded of Laura and listening to her cough after being diagnosed, and subsequently watching her die. Mom will meet with her oncologist on Tuesday (I'm planning to be there too) to find out specific treatment options and what he recommends. Based on the online article, her life expectancy - with treatment - is about 13 months. Based on listening to my mom cough, listening to her describe what her x-rays looked like and everything else, I suspect 13 months is a long-shot. I know that probably sounds morbid, and I hope I'm wrong, but I do have really good gut instincts. I will do my best to halt my prognostications until after meeting with the doctor on Tuesday, though. Ugh. This blows.

While I know people can and have developed lung cancer without ever smoking - my mom has smoked for many years. Her lung cancer is a result of smoking. People, please quit smoking.

Here are some links:
American Cancer Society
American Lung Association - Tips on quitting smoking

Oh, by the way, my divorce was finalized on Wednesday too. It's sad (because no one enters into a marriage hoping it will end), but it's something that has needed to be done for a long time. We split in 2007 - so it's been quite a while. We've remained kind and cordial to each other and suspect we will remain so.

Cancer Blows

So my mom called me tonight and told me that her lung biopsy came back positive for cancer. More tests have to be done before a form of treatment is decided upon, but it just fucking blows. I cared for my ex-mother-in-law when she was diagnosed with lung cancer and it was such a cruel and horrible death. No one should have do die like that - it's like a form a murder. Basically she drowned on her on her blood - watching it was horrible and painful.

This coming April 1st, I will celebrate my 10-year anniversary from quitting smoking. I'm glad I quit and I can feel the health benefits from doing so, but I do still miss it. It's so addicting and I found so many reasons not to quit, and also tried to quit many times, before actually doing so. I wish everyone I know would quit smoking. There's still no absolute that I, nor others I know, won't get lung cancer, but I do know my chances of getting it has been reduced tremendously. What I am glad for, is that by reducing my chances of getting lung cancer, I have lessened the burden on family members that would need to take care of me.

Anyway, I'm sure there'll be more to talk about on this.......

In the meantime, instead of buying that next pack of cigarettes, buy a pack of patches.