Overkill

What's with all the crazy Asian brothers these days? There's V-Tech, Binghamton, the 80 year old Korean dude from southern California, and the guy who tried to eat the guy next to him on the bus up in Canada. It's never easy to fit in. At least it's never been that easy for me. And I wasn't one of these people who chose to leap thousands of miles across the ocean hoping for a different world, probably only to discover that it isn't that easy and there's a lot of reason for heartache and misunderstanding. Nothing explains away the actions they did, but we should try to be mindful of why they lash out and think about how we can keep this type of stuff from continuing and hurting all kinds of innocent people.

One thing that would help, not that it is a full solution is that assault weapons ban again. I believe in the NRA's mission to keep the right to bear arms. The Supreme Court settled this last year, and reading the Constitution, their interpretation is valid. But I wonder if those old guys who drafted the Constitution could have envisioned guns that could fire and kill hundreds of people per minute. I wonder if they could have envisioned a world where gang members routinely outgunned police officers. The NRA is a little off the deep end insisting that the 2nd Amendment means "all guns" all the time.

But the NRA is an extremely powerful lobby. No one will even consider this topic seriously anymore.

Trip Summary

Wednesday: I highly recommend the cute little leashes that you strap on your two year old. Without it, I would still be circling around at SFO, trying to get Little J to follow. I know it comes off as somewhat demeaning, and my mom must have referred to it as a dog leash a dozen times, but it works. Of course, even though mine was a domestic flight, it was at the furthest reach of the international gate, which must have been a quarter mile walk. Little J was her usually ansty self at the airport. But I managed to distract her for an hour. And for some reason, she really likes plane flights. Since we've been back, she's ask to go flying at least 5 or 6 times. Saw the rents. Went out to a dinner of spicy been noodle soup with my cousin, Oliver. Haven't seen this guy from Taiwan in a couple years, but probably will see him more now that he's studying in LA. J behaved well pretty much all day until bathtime. That's when she finally realized we were staying and we wouldn't be going home that night.

Thursday. Full day at Legoland. A good day to go. Sun came up, but it wasn't hot. Rode the rides. Her favorite is the giant swining boat. Kid had fun. Rents took lots of pics. I'm sure she'll want to go back again.

Friday. In the morning went shopping with my mom. She is like any grandmother and spoils her grandkid at any opportunity. In the afternoon, picked up my friend at the airport. He was in town for a big writing thing. He was nominated for an award, but he didn't win. We spent a couple hours in Santa Monica at the Promenade and at the pier. We spent more time sitting in traffic before settling in Westwood for sushi.

Saturday we had dim sum before the flight back. We ran into some of my parents friends at the restaurant, which was cool. Again, the little one loves flying. As the plane landed in SFO, she demanded "More flying!" More flying!" Overall a good trip. But yeah, I need another vacation to recover from going on a trip.

Cheny sticking to his guns.

Cheney is right that the release of the torture memos didn't cover what kind of valuable information was obtained through the 180+ times that waterboarding was used. Now he wants that valueable informatiion released. Pretty ironic from the most secretive oval office official ever.

I get that this guy is trying to protect his legacy. But it's too late. For years, he's been screaming that Iraq has nukes, that he did not out a CIA operative, that he made the world a safer place. This clown has no credibility. None. That's the problem. It's impossible to believe him when he says valuable information was gained through his interrogation techniques. Logically it's possible, but this guy doctored a war. I'm sure doctoring results from torture would be simple in comparison.

All this because he wants to write a "memoir". I guess it's okay as long as people who buy the book realize it belongs in the fiction section.

Torture Memos

Surprise, surprise. The CIA under Junior tortured people. The memos are out. I have myself for sounding like a pragmatic centrist at the moment, but I think Obama is doing the right thing. Release the info, recognize the errors of the past (and lay blame where it belongs), and declare a new way of doing things. Obama has also said he's not going after any American agents that may have engaged in torture.

It would be nice to string up the very bad people who did very bad things to many people in the name of America. But for a lot of practical reasons, this isn't that easy to do. All these agents were given fig leafs to protect themselves. They are all going to be able to point to the legal memos and just say that they did what they were told. What Gonzo and crew told them was within Junior's constitutional authority to do. It's going to be nearly impossible to prove anyone guilty of anything when they're saying the POTUS said it was okay. A case can be made, but even in this era of turning over a new leaf, I don't think it would work.

I also don't think it would be the best use of our resources. Like it our not, we need an intelligence service. Yes, they should be guided by ethics just like everyone else, but I think this would put a big quash on anyone ever wanting to work at the intelligence agencies (oxymoron?)

Do I think, we should go higher up on the food chain? Again, Cheney and Junior are the ones who really deserve to be tried and convicted. Do I think this is the right time for that sort of thing? Not really. History and higher powers will be their judges.

I've heard one interesting thought. The people who wrote memos carving up the Consitution and giving all legal authority to do what they want in the time of war- these people should probably be reprimanded by their respective bar associations. It will never happen, but a sanction on that front is deserved.

Resetting the clock.

We had a power outage the other day and I had to re-set the clock. Pre-babies, we rarely set the alarm. We just went to sleep when we felt like and got up when we wanted and that seemed to work fine. Rarely did we oversleep. Now, we have two wailing alarm clocks that can wake us up in the morning. But, setting an alarm is more important than ever. Because when we've dealt with one of the screaming monsters, the first inclination is to crawl under the covers and sleep again. Only, being very tired, we are very inclined to oversleep. Last Saturday, after a long night, I slept until 9 while Wifey watched the kids. It's been a long long time since I've gotten up at such a late hour.

So what I was thinking while I set the clock was that there is this certain group of people out there who purposely set their clocks a little fast. And somehow, this little self-deception somehow makes them more comfortable or more on time or gives the illusion of more sleep. I don't see how this works. I can't fool myself. And I wonder of people who do this, if you can't be truthful to yourself about what time it is, what are self-deceptions do you have? Would you be better off being more honest with yourself? I can't answer this for anyone, but myself, but it was just a thought.

New Life Goal

It was a tough night for Michigan State last night. Too bad. Having been born in Detroit, I do tend to have some sympathies for their sports teams. Especially, the Pistons and the Spartans (though I lived in Ann Arbor) who have mostly gone about playing the right way. Good play where they share the ball. Congrats to NC.

Anyway, I'm not adding this to the list of things I do before 40, but to the list of things I do before I die. Before it's all said and done, I'd like to go the Final Four at least once. Forget the lopsided nature of the score last night. Forget the Rose Bowl or any other non-play off football championship. Forget the World Series or any NBA Championship game. I'd rather go to this.

Business can't keep up with technology.

Now that people are watching a lot of tv on the net, have you wondered why your tv isn't serving as a big computer monitor? The tech is there already to hook it all up so you have one box serving as your tv and your computer, so why hasn't it happened?

Two answers that are really one answer. Money.
1. Comcast and other cable companies like to charge you for separate broadband and cable services.
2. TV show producers still haven't figured out how to monetize TV over the net. The advertising just doesn't cut it.