August 12, 2026

Archives for December 2012

Obama’s surreal fiscal cliff speech

December 31, 2012 by

After a refreshing vacation to Hawaii for Christmas, President Obama took the stage this afternoon (EST) to make a speech on the impending fiscal cliff. Driving home during lunch, I listened to KSL’s Doug Wright describe the scene, and I arrived home just in time to watch the President speak.

Wright was describing the scene while waiting for the President to take the stage, and since Obama was late, he tried guessing where they were at. He could see a podium, but he after listing through the typical rooms where Obama addresses the nation from the White House, he concluded that he didn’t know where they were.

Filed Under: Leaders Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Guns and Social Network Reactions

December 27, 2012 by

I think it would be safe to say that very few of political watchers had gun regulation on the radar in the days before the Sandy Hook shootings. Since…well, it’s hard to talk about anything else (and not just because the fiscal cliff story is the least-interesting-and-most-difficult-to-understand-but-perhaps-most-important-story this year).

With that in mind, I asked a couple friends over at PoliticIt to take a look at what trends they saw in social media immediately before and immediately after the Newtown shooting. (PoliticIt, if you’ve not heard of it before, is the brainchild of Josh Light and Sterling Morris. They collect data from social networks, the internet, and “the real world” to create a measure of politicians digital influence that accurately predicts electoral success.)

They showed me some interesting things.

Filed Under: Second Amendment Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

So this is Christmas…

December 24, 2012 by

It’s Christmas. With several versions of John Lennon’s “So this is Christmas” playing on the airwaves and in retail establishments across America, it’s a bittersweet reminder that while we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, we have not as a nation, or as practicing Christians, yet learned his message and how to apply it.

Indeed, this has not been a peaceful year. Looking at the global state of things, conflicts, some decades in age, there are at least twelve ongoing conflicts that have resulted in deaths in 2012 (according to a Wikipedia page called “List of ongoing military conflicts”), including the war in Afghanistan that killed at least 03,000 in 2012, the Syrian civil war with 37,787 deaths, and one in Burma that started in 1948 and resulted in 10,000 fatalities (bet you missed that one on the nightly news round up). And, lest we forget, there are still American troops in Iraq, too, where over 8,000 people have died in the last two years.

Taken all together, it’s a depressing prospect. And when seen in light of the shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut this month, it is perhaps more sobering and dispiriting, too.

Filed Under: Criminal Law, History and People, International Interest Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A brief history of the Second Amendment in the Supreme Court [contributor]

December 22, 2012 by

Congress is again considering an “assault weapons ban.” The call is for compromise, reasonable restrictions and common sense gun control. I could go on a lengthy diatribe that was comprehensive in nature regarding the proposed legislation, but others have already responded thoroughly.

Owing to the nature of this blog, I will instead offer a perspective taken from previous court opinions that may be relevant to the proposal.

Filed Under: Second Amendment Tagged With: , , , ,

Larry Correia on gun regulation and arming teachers

December 20, 2012 by

The more I hear, the more I think we need not only need a conversation about guns and mental health, but we probably ought to learn more about what we are talking about before we go around maligning them. In the last couple days, I’ve heard people in the news attack “semi-automatic” weapons (newsflash: almost every single gun in the world is a semi-automatic weapon–it just means that after you fire a round, a new round is pushed into the cylinder so you can fire another round) and “assault” rifles, a term that didn’t really exist until the mid-1980s and which creation only served to popularize the Bushmaster.

If you read nothing else, you should set aside a few minutes and read author Larry Correia’s (see a review of his first book, a best seller, here) two-bits. A former gun store owner and a Utah Concealed and Carry Weapon permit trainer, he provides some interesting insights to the debate

Filed Under: Second Amendment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Is it about the guns? [KSL]

December 19, 2012 by

Before we jump to conclusions, pass laws with long-reaching consequences, let’s take time to take a closer look at those who are behind the guns. They are, in many respects, those who need our help the most, and by the time they have taken up deadly weapons, we have as a society missed their need for help. Restricting gun ownership is an easy, if misguided answer. Addressing how we help the mentally ill and those on society’s fringes will require more of us, but ultimately will save more lives.

Filed Under: Second Amendment Tagged With: , , , , ,

Review | With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain by Michael Korda

December 18, 2012 by

Ranked among the greatest battles in British history, along with Waterloo, defeating the Spanish Armada, and Trafalgar, the Battle of Britain stands as a turning point during World War II when the Nazi juggernaut finally faced a foe that would not fall. Though few recognized it immediately, it was the turning of the tide in the war. WithWith Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain, Michael Korda brings the battle to life, both in the air above England and in the halls of government where defenses we’re planned and prepared.

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Books and Reading Tagged With: , , , , ,
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