Wow, it's been 8 days since my last post. Time seems to fly by. On the other hand, that last post was pretty darn good, as it was obviously many months in the making. :-)
So I don't know who will be the next president. I've discussed my personal preferences recently. But whoever it is, I sincerely hope it is NOT Hillary Clinton. Just not for the reasons you all might believe.
I believe Hillary might make a decent president if she wins. But really, if Hillary wins, she will be yet another president over the last 20 years with direct familial ties to another president. We had Reagan, and he was the last unattached president, and he was a great one. Then we had Bush Sr., then Bill Clinton, then Bush Jr. Would we REALLY want to continue the streak by putting another Clinton in the White House? What this country needs more than anything else right now is new blood; preferably someone relatively new to politics, someone mostly outside the existing Washington elite, or who has been outside of the Federal limelight for a while. Very few candidates in the field fit that bill. The Republicans offer up better chances for new blood than the Democrat field does, but I feel that's probably from the necessities created by the current administration. The Republicans probably feel their best chance is to get away from the current quagmire of both Congress and Bush. There are several good choices for both sides, but the key point is that we need someone new and real this time around. No baggage to carry from a previous administration. No promises to keep to old friends in the House or Senate. A maverick in some ways, but diplomatic and civil. That person isn't Hillary, John McCain, Chris Dodd, or most of the other candidates on either side.
This is what we need. Does anyone think we'll get it this time around?
I'm appalled by the tragedy that happened this past weekend in Noble, Oklahoma. It's another one of those "sadness and anger that make it difficult to trust in God's plan" stories. For those of you who haven't seen or heard the story, 5-year-old Austin Haley was killed when a stray bullet hit him in the head while he was fishing with his grandpa, great-grandpa, and little brother. That story is sad enough, but the kicker makes it worse; the stray bullet apparently came from the sidearm of a policeman responding to an animal-control call of a snake stuck in a birdhouse. Allegedly, the officer was fresh out of training, hadn't been on the force more than a month or two. The Noble Police Department has just lost its part-time animal control officer and has an opening for it even now; while it's unfilled, though, regular officers must respond to those calls, even if they end up doing nothing. Even though this officer was with a 5-year-veteran shift supervisor, he decided it was prudent to open fire with his weapon in an area where homes were just a few hundred yards away. He fired two shots, and one hit Austin in the head. He was taken to Norman Regional Hospital (interestingly, the hospital where my daughter Katie was born) and was pronounced dead there. His obituary is here.
There are some crucial angles of this that must be discussed. First, why on Earth did the officer, new though he might be, believe it was a good idea to draw his weapon and fire in an area that is not rural and where homes are very close in all directions? Here is the approximate location on Google Maps; you can see where there are homes and buildings (i.e., PEOPLE) in just about every direction from where the shooting was done. In fact, in the hybrid satellite/map view provided in the above link, you can actually see the likely ponds where Austin was standing when the bullet struck him. What was the officers thinking? Why did the shift supervisor with him let him fire in this area? Looks might be deceiving, but police typically know their communities and what's nearby any point where they are, better than just about anyone. These guys should have known their environment. And there's always Rule #1 of firearms safety: NEVER FIRE YOUR WEAPON UNLESS YOU KNOW FOR CERTAIN WHAT IS BEYOND YOUR TARGET. That training is provided not just to police, but to anyone who takes basic firearms safety training. Bullets from any weapon can travel more than a mile, depending on their trajectory; you have to know not only where you're shooting but what all might be in your bullet's path, should you miss. This alone makes the officers involved directly responsible. It was obviously accidental, and not criminally negligent, but it was negligent, and the officers involved should be fired. All it takes is a moment of irresponsibility, a moment of shutting your brain off, and someone can die.
Also, the city seems to be working very hard to keep this as quiet as possible. Now, Noble is a small town of 5,000-6,000 people, so the community is suffering greatly and it will be difficult to keep this covered up. I understand the need for a full investigation, but city officials need to understand that trying to keep this under wraps makes them look bad, given the tragic outcome, the community's grief, and the national attention this incident has brought to the town. So far, they're not handling this well. They are most likely working to not admit any wrongdoing at this point, standard legal procedure when this sort of thing happens. However, I have no doubt the individual officers, the police department, and the city will all be determined liable for this boy's death, and I expect lawsuits to come along once the investigation is complete. At least a formal investigation is being performed by the OSBI, who should be able to act as impartially as possible through this.
Two other interesting angles are notable, directly from the boy's family. First, read as much of these stories and the obituary as you can, and you see a recurring theme; the amazing faith in God the family shows during this difficult time. These are the demonstrations of God's plan in these sorts of tragic events. Difficult times bring us closer to him, and I can testify to that myself. The family is hurting now to have their boy taken from them so quickly and unexpectedly, but they know full-well that the day will come when they will see him again. Also, notice the lack of outcry, even public outcry, about another tragic death resulting from a gun. If this happened somewhere on one of the coasts, national organizations would already be calling for the heads of the officers and for the surrender of all firearms in the town's police force, stripping yet another weapon from the arsenal of law enforcement. No mention is made of that sort of thing, though, aside from the obvious thoughtless negligence of the officer who actually fired. You see, in Oklahoma, we hold the man responsible, not the tool. You Coast types should take a close note of that (and the faith thing, too...another area where the coasts are sorely lacking).
I do feel sorry for the officer who fired, as he will have to live with this for the rest of his life. He has likely ended his career in law enforcement, at least from the standpoint of doing anything meaningful. Even if he is not fired he'll probably be chained to a desk for the rest of his career. I've mentioned before, though, that sometimes, life lets you get away with mistakes...other times, you pay for even a small moment of inattention for the rest of your life. Again, it can be difficult, but obviously God has a plan for this officer. Fellow Christians, pray for him as you pray for everyone else involved, that God will reveal His purpose in this for everyone and will guide them in the way they should go.
I'll be keeping a close eye on this story to see how it turns out.
Barry Bonds finally did it last night. 756. Notice I'm not linking to it...in fact, I was torn about mentioning it at all. I love baseball; it's the only sport I ever played really well. All the way through my playing time, I was a great hitter and great fielder. If I head kept at it, I might have been able to get a scholarship somewhere for it; I might even have been on the OU team that won the College World Series in 1994. After I quit playing, I umpired for seven years, and would still be doing it if high school and college-level baseball here in Colorado were anything to crow about (I've got stories of my one season of umpiring here that still amaze me...some times I'll share some of them). I really love baseball and would watch it all the time if I could. I would love for my sons to play baseball. It's a wonderful sport, despite its problems.
However, Barry Bonds new record does absolutely nothing for me. First, the guy's a classless, Grade-A jerk. Even his tearful evocation of his father during his little speech after No. 756 rang hollow for me. Second, everyone knows the guy is a cheater pumped up on steroids. Proof? Well, there's no smoking gun, but when enough pieces of information point in a certain direction, well, they can't ALL be coincidence, can they? Even his "teammates" (I quote that because Bonds is never really on a team) weren't going crazy or jumping up and down for his record. In fact, the entire sports world really seems more interested in getting it over with than in celebrating what should have been a momentous occasion in baseball history.
So put his name in the books, put the asterisk next to it, and let's move on.
Sooners update: Fall practices have begun, and two-a-days started this week! The Sooner Nation is all a-tingle with anticipation of what is to come. My pick for QB is Sam Bradford, who seemed to do really well in the spring. First game is September 1st, my mom's birthday, so I hope OU can deliver a good win for her. (They play North Texas, so a win is pretty much a lock.)
Mountaineering update: I climbed Mt. Bierstadt and Mt. Evans on Sunday. That was crazy. I ended up screwing up my knee and had to take a car down from the top of Evans. Fortunately, Evans has the highest paved road in the US, going nearly to the summit. I'll post the full story, complete with pics, sometime this week.
Family update: the boys go back to school on the 22nd. Connor starts 3rd grade, Donovan starts 2nd. They're both excited, but this has been a short summer with the unusual scheduling that resulted from last year's construction. Donovan will be starting flag football within a few weeks, and we're all excited about that. Connor is still keeping up with karate and should be testing for his blue-belt-with-green-stripe soon, which is a big step for him. I'm working on keeping up with my Board duties, and that's challenging. I also finally enrolled in what should be my actual first term at DU in the Masters of Information Security Management program there. Wish me luck, I'll be busy.
Heidi is doing great, really getting a good handle on things at home and keeping them all under control. I try to help out, but she won't let me; I don't like that because I don't want to dump everything on her, but I do because it shows she's taking pride in it. She's been doing very well in keeping the place straight, getting laundry done, dishes washed, and meals made. She's really enjoying the housewife role, I think. She will be starting part-time work nannying for an old friend, and the extra income will be helpful, but it shouldn't cut in too much for her. It should be a nice mix for her, providing some variety to keep her life interesting once school starts again.
Owen is doing great. We've started him on rice cereal, which is good, but not good in that his tummy seems to be struggling to adapt. He's only had a couple of poops in the 5 days since we started him on it, and that's not good at all. It's also made him a little fussier the last few days. He had a big one last night, so we're hoping that helps clear things out for him. Also, he's rolling over more, and is almost rolling over completely from his back to his front. He can get about 2/3 of the way over now, so that he's lying on one arm. Once he gets that arm out of the way and around, he'll be done! He's smiling all the time, and is usually pretty happy (see the tummy thing above), and he's talking like crazy. Still just baby talk, but that is so important for his language development, as he continually tries out the sounds he hears the rest of us making. Watching this little guy grow is so awesome.
Thanks for reading along.
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