The heat is pretty unbearable here as well. I stayed inside all day today. Tomorrow I have work to do in the yard so I’ll be up early so I can avoid melting.

Anytime you’re down this was we’ll be happy to provide the welcome wagon. We LOVE showing off our city.

don’t wanna take ourselves out, much less the kid …

anyway, at the end of soylent, steven and i were whining … “we wanna go to a bbq with cows and fireworks!” steven added, “and bourbon!”

but bourbon or no … we wish we were in kentucky and you would invite us over!

ask her if she sees this … parents often set floors for their children’s educations … their kids just need to get as far as they got … a lot of that has to do with the parents not understanding what exists beyond their education level … access to and understanding resources is a big problem among lower-educated groups … i think where this might not be true is with immigrants … there is a lot of research suggesting that people who immigrate are a special breed … have a certain strength of character … an ability to assess risk … they often kick their kids’ asses … and this is especially true for relatively highly educated immigrants … i.e. most east asians …

and then there are the upper middle class parents who think buying stuff will keep their kids busy and out of trouble AND out of their hair … ha!

this is TOTALLY off topic … but the afternoon fox basebal game just ended … we are waiting for the mets to start at 7:30, and steven just turned it to soylent green …

“soylent green is peeeeeeeeeeeeeple!”

Being a social worker seems to be rewarding for her most of the time, though incredibly frustrating as well. Since we both have that social science background I enjoy it when our fields intersect. The hardest thing with her job is seeing the way lousy parents neglect their kids’ education. The stories she tells me make me crazy.

it has ravaged the southwest (and now northwest). interestingly, too, it is extremely popular in the gay community. it is arguably responsible for the recent surges in hiv, syphilis, and hep c infections. a lot of my friends in the community are extremely worried. and rightly so.

i can tell the difference between a meth high and a crack high, and i actually had to stop watching cops (guilty pleasure) because it simply became too depressing.

anytime i hear someone is a social worker, i have to give props. it’s a job that is nothing but uphill battles in all directions, but when just one person is put on the right track … that feeling has to be so rewarding.

Meth is a HUGE problem here. My wife is a social worker with the school system and she runs into it a lot. It made it’s way in from the rural areas east of louisville and shows no sign of slowing down.

As for handguns – I believe the safest decision is always to flee a confrontation but in lieu of that, a gun does provide another level of security in the right hands. I’m not suggesting everyone should carry a gun, but it is good to know we have that option.

louisville has a substantial population, but at the same time, suburbs of the city of los angeles are the size of your city. i don’t want to imply, however, that louisville does not face urban problems, especially if meth has made its way to you. (meth has destroyed a lot of middle america.)

i have heard that argument about it not making sense for urban dwellers not to want to own handguns … sometimes delivered as a joke, sometimes totally seriously.

it has never, ever crossed my mind to own a handgun. has it crossed my mind to go to a target range? sure. i actually think i’d be pretty good at it. i understand having guns for hunting, but handguns aren’t used for hunting wildlife.

Actually I like cities just fine. Louisville is the 16th largest city in the U.S. and while we may not compare to places like NYC or Chicago, we aren’t exactly a ‘small-town’. I’m not a huge fan of the back-to-cities model, but I DO think urban areas are a vital part of our country.

With that being said, yes, i will agree that the NRA has been quite obstructionist on some gun legislation, but what we need is more control of gun trafficking, not a ban on guns themselves. To that end, the NRA has always supported enforcement of existing gun laws and in fact was very critical of Clinton for not doing more to fight gun crime during his time in office. (I would google Project Exile for more info on that subject.)

I honestly don’t understand why law-abiding citizens in urban areas would want gun restrictions. That just means they will be the only ones without them. Whenever I am driving through the shady parts of Louisville, I am comforted by the gun in the glove box. If I lived in NYC or Chicago that would ne no different.

if he did the first but not the second, where would you stand in your opinion of him? … he has frequently stated he is open to re-examining his position on several issues … one that comes to mind is his voting record supporting some farm subsidies, especially for the corn industry …

personally, i am not convinced by some gun-control legislation … at the same time, i think gun companies have worked very diligently to insure their products are easily available … the closest analogy is the tobacco industry … then, still, i have been disappointed with the republican party’s (and nra’s) argument that the existing laws are sufficient to control guns, while both are reluctant to put a lot of money/resources behind sufficiently enforcing said laws …

there’s my stance … now, i think my clan is going to have to head to dairy queen … with the all-star break and no baseball, we are really hurtin’ for entertainment over here.

Unfortunately the Sierra Club, while they have their moments of sanity, are still Far Left. Likewise for LCV.

I would be fine with Obama pledging he will not promote any new firearm regulations aimed at limiting ownership. I would be fine with him renouncing all of his anti-gun votes as an elected official in Illinois. If he is willing to do those two things, that would make me immensely happy.