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Showing posts from July, 2012

The Dark Knight Rises: Why Do We Fall?

Needless to say, I was looking forward to seeing The Dark Knight Rises , Christopher Nolan being my favorite living director and all. I was unable to make the opening weekend (see previous post). I caught it in IMAX this past Sunday. Before I get into my review let's quickly skip through all the hype. Of course, a shadow was cast over the opening weekend due to the tragic Aurora, Colorado theater shooting that killed or wounded about 70 people. Nolan condemned the horrible incident in a lengthy response . Still, the film set a record for the opening , even though the total haul was less than expected, perhaps due to the shooting . Before the incident in Colorado scalpers were apparently able to demand $100 for opening weekend tickets . There was much debate about the film before the shooting. Prior to release, things got really ugly over on Rotten Tomatoes . Some early critics found the film lacking and this prompted a flaming response from defenders who had not even

Social Network Tsunami Wipes Out Dream Lake

It was 12:30pm on Friday and I was ready to get out of town. Jennifer and I were headed to a secluded spot in northwest South Carolina. That's the only part of the state with true mountains. Up past Wahalla there are hundreds of acres, with various property owners, mostly wooded sprinkled with 10-15 acre open fields. Several healthy spring-fed creeks filter through and extend for miles. We were meeting Clint, our 'Dillo Friend , up there to enjoy a weekend of seclusion and swimming in a small lake made from a dam crafted by the current owners on a chunk of this land. The name of their entire property including their exclusive 4-5 acre pond is Dream Lake. Clint and Jennifer have known them intimately for many years. It was the first time I met them. But first we had to make our way through Atlanta traffic on a Friday afternoon, some of the toughest urban driving in America. I wanted to leave early enough to avoid the mad rush out of the city. I had been in a sale

Floating on Calm Emerald Water

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Jennifer and me floating out a ways from the shore on vacation in Destin, FL.  Photo by my daughter.  She and her friend later joined us out past where the waves broke, where they only swelled.  I had my panama hat, Jennifer her visor.  I could look down and see the sandy bottom a few clear feet beneath us, though over our head this far out.  The gulf coast is gorgeous here with aqua and emerald waters slowly fading to deep blue out beyond where our floats went.  Things could be tougher, right?  The only problem was we did not have beers out there with us.

The Supreme Decision: Part Two - The Text

Note: This is the second part of my blog about the recent Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the Affordable Health Care Act. This portion simply looks at the text of the opinions as presented. I have omitted some extensive legal citations in the text for the sake of readability. What better way to blog on the Fourth of July than by looking at the recent landmark Supreme Court case, which shows all Americans how the Founding Fathers set up their government. Let us consider the text itself, not what anyone says about it. It is 193 pages. ( Read it here .) The first 6 pages are the “Syllabus” or summary of the ruling. This is followed by the majority opinions. First, Chief Justice John Roberts fills 59 pages with support from Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan , except for the specifics on the mandate which Roberts authors alone. This is followed by the Court’s most liberal justice, Ruth Ginsburg , assisted by Justice Sonia Sotomayor who are obviously v

Coldplay put a smile upon my face

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I found this image at Patch.com Last night Jennifer and I went to the Philips Arena to see Coldplay.  ( Read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution review here .) I have previously blogged about my interest in this great band and I bemoaned the fact that I missed them last year at the return of Music Mid-town to Atlanta. No matter.  All is forgiven by one of the best live concert appearances I have seen...well...ever.  It sounds silly and naive to say stuff like that.  My daughter is spoiled rotten.  She is young so she has little context for seeing and hearing something extraordinary. On the other hand, you can appreciate the extraordinary in itself even if you are very young.  My daughter and her friends were all beaming and excited afterwards.  They loved the show and had bright eyes, smiles on their faces.  It was a sell out (about 21,000).  The crowd was totally in to it and sang along with all the lyrics.  Coldplay's fan base is truly fanatical in enormous numbers.  Oh y

Three Days of Wicked Heat

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A pic of the outside temperature reading at my house about 4 pm yesterday.  We had three days of record-setting high temperatures in a row.  Temperatures were 104, 106, and 107.  Humidity was under 30% each day.  Even more unusual for my county was the fact that we had gusty winds all three days as well.  It was like walking out into a gigantic hair dryer.  Very hard on the trees in my woods as we have had no rain for several weeks.  A brief thunderstorm last night offered some minor relief.  Am I watching a desert forming here?  We started doing some targeted irrigation of shrubs Saturday evening.  But, you simply cannot water trees enough.  I am sad for them.

The Supreme Decision: Part One - The Politics

Note: This is the first part of my blog on the recent Supreme Court decision concerning the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. This portion reflects the news coverage of the event and the politics surrounding the decision. Facts about and quotes from the printed text of the decision itself will be offered in a later post. Last month I blogged about the fundamental importance of the Supreme Court's decision about the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate. The decision is central to over two centuries of political discourse regarding the limits of Federal Power and the rights of State Sovereignty. This past Thursday the Court handed down a surprising and complex 5-4 ruling upholding the individual mandate as a tax . The mandate itself was ruled unconstitutional. Of course, this is tricky ground. Because the Court cannot rule on a tax that is not in effect yet. So, the majority opinion used some fancy legalese to get around