We finally got a decision. We have been waiting for months… well, really years… for Judge Roger T. Benitez to release his opinion in Duncan v Bonta. You may remember this originally as Duncan v Becerra. California has Penal Code § 32310(c) and (d) that was amended by Proposition 63 which essentially made the mere possession of a...
Lincoln stared past me. His etched visage looking out towards somewhere in empty space contemplating some great cone disconnected from what the artist had posted as a quote below him. “A house divided cannot stand.” It’s written in script to give it an old timey solemnity. When quoting the bard, even if it is Lincoln quoting Shakespeare,...
The irony does not escape me. I am at 35,000 feet, wedged between two people on my way to Milwaukee via a stop-over in Chicago. The flight departed at 6:45 this morning. I tried to sleep through take-off, but that was, as expected, an exercise in futility. I am unarmed. Well… that is probably a misnomer. I have a...
By now you are all aware of the events two weeks ago at Cook’s Corner. I have driven by Cook’s Corner several times on my way into Silverado Canyon but, in all candor, I have never stopped there. Perhaps it was the motorcycles? I am not against motorcycles in the slightest. In fact, I’ve wanted to...
“Bearing arms does not mean from your bathroom to your kitchen!” That little missive was penned by Justice Clarence Thomas in a dissent to the granting of certiorari on a Second Amendment case a few years back. The gravamen of the case centered around the question: Does the Second Amendment provide protection for conduct outside the...
It has been said Nero rejoiced in the destruction of Rome. That might be pushing it a bit… I think he reached a point of being so overwhelmed he lost his capacity for rational thought. His “joy” may have been, in a sense, a self-defense mechanism. We now find ourselves similarly situated. Rome is burning… or to...
There are two potential antidotes to misinformation or disinformation: criminalization of speech or competitive speech. We have officially adopted criminalization of speech, and have now broadened that concept to include criminalization of thought. This is not just a manifestation here in the States; we see it happening in Europe too. Where China and the former Soviet Union...
Hunter S. Thompson, who, I must say, has always been a literary hero of mine, is often known as the “father of gonzo journalism”. I find this moniker to be wholly misguided. While it might have served him as a form of branding, it did nothing to explain either the genre he excelled at or...
“What can you do right this moment?” I looked up at Gabriel; he was looking at me with that intense look he seemed to always have. His question was honest and poignant. He knew the answer, and he knew that I knew the answer, but he wanted me to verbalize it. “Proselytize?” He wrinkled his face in a...
Once again, I beg your indulgence. As a father I do tend to live vicariously through my daughters. Their successes and adventures are my successes and adventures. This is wholly reasonable. It is, in my opinion, one of the many arguments for a Divine Creator. Unlike most animals, we do maintain familial connections with our offspring...
