Records

Just an observation, Mrs. Cindy McCain is 54, tall and slim, looking great. I love to have a picture with her instead of John anytime. But the point is, her daughter, Meghan McCain, 23, who almost registered as a Democrat, is short and wide. The moral of the story? Conservative Republican women are always the better deal!

Heard Frank Luntz spoke tonight at congressman Sam Johnson fund raising dinner at the InterContinental in Addison. During the primary, I thought he was overtly a Mitt Romney guy and trying to steer his focus group so I stopped watching FoxNews exclusively. But I now realized maybe he was just doing his job so passionately and truly believe in his instant dial reaction. Anyway, he's got a few good points and as for most of us, we know but fail to put into practice.

Vacation Bible School is this week at our church. I man the Deep Space memory verse station. The curriculum is pretty good. I am not known for my creativity but I follow the instructions, got quite a few glow-in-the-dark magic wands from the Dollar Tree stores as prize for the best kid from each of the five groups rolling through my station each day. They are quite a hit with the kids. I originally got 5 of them for five days but during the first day, it came to me to give them away as prize so I had to go back to the store, only one particular store of the three I tried, in Arlington has it.

Finally got myself a portable MP3 player. I am a technology guy but I won't be the one who are out there waiting in line to get the first release of anything. There will always bugs to be worked out in the first release of anything, hardware or software. And finding out that my mini Mac won't be supported for instant-play of movies from Netflix, I am not too eager to get the iPod. On Saturday, I was in Costco for some regular shopping and saw the tiny SanDisk Sansa 4Gb was selling for only $59 after $10 manufacturer instant rebate, and it can play secured WMA so I grabbed it. I need an MP3 player that can play secure WMA to start checkout eAudioBook from public library. It's working pretty well, I am listening to The Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt, using in conjunction with my little FM transmitter in the car.

I have visited 22 states. Looking forward to covering the other 28 states soon enough, if not campaign with Young Republicans then family vacation should do.

Keeping tab on how your tax dollars are being spent by Texas government entities Texas Budget Source.

Hope everyone had a great celebration of America's 232nd Independence. I went to the Lakewood parade in the morning with congressman Jeb Hensarling, then home to replace the food disposer under the sink. Then out on the driving range at the Mansfield National Golf Club with Ken and my brother. Came by Jason's place, had something to eat and back outdoor for a few games of basketball until the sunset. We were too tired by then so we settled for fireworks in the living room at Jason's house.

I am disgusted with this singer Rene Marie in Denver, Colorado. Let's see, she sings professionally so she should know, if she had signed a contract to perform song A, then she sang song B, what would that be? A breach of contract. In this case, a break of promise, a non delivery on a commitment. The integrity of the person is questioned, no? That's not to say of the disrespectful attitude she has for this country, of the thousand upon thousand of men and women, especially black men and women, who have fought and died for that flag to fly high and for that song we call the national anthem to be sung.

A bunch of us members of the Texas Young Republican Federation were on hand and ready to debate the Young Democrats at the National Association of Student Council Annual Conference but only one young Democrat showed up. So the format had to be modified and the students mostly hear from us young Republicans, which is great, we are not complaining. But we were prevented from speaking anything partisan. Wish we could have creamed them ....

Great decision by the US Supreme Court today in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller. Those in government do well to remember that all rights are endowed by the Creator to the individuals, that government exists only by consent of the governed, and that any right not explicitly enumerated as delegated is reserved to the individual as in the spirit of the 10th amendment to the US Constitution.

I went sky diving. Check out the video.

Saturday morning, May 24, we had Kay's teaching at the Saint Peter in Gallicantu. We then went on to visit the Israel museum where there is the model of the second temple and the Shrine of the Book, which also connects to the Billy Rose Art Garden. Our next stop after lunch was the Garden Tomb, where we had communion together at the end of the visit.

Sunday, May 25th, last day of the tour, we had Kay's teaching in the morning before visiting Yad Vashem. We only had about a couple of hours there but to see everything there, one must spend at least a whole day. We went back into the old city for lunch before everyone was given free time to either pack or do some more shopping. We had our farewell banquet at the Inbal where we have had dinner every night we stayed in Jerusalem. Folks who are not going on to Eilat got on buses after the banquet to head back to Tel Aviv airport for their flight back to the US. My flight isn't until the next morning so Avi arranged a Nasher Taxi for me to head out to the airport much later.

Check out my album for all the pictures.

First arrival in the holy city of Jerusalem late the afternoon of Monday, May 19th, we had teachings from Kay Arthur on Mt. Scopus.

May 20, we queued up in the morning outside of the Dung gate for security check before entering the old city. Visited the temple mount, the Dome of the Rock, before walking down along the Via De La Rosa, stopping by the place where Pontius Pilate washed his hand before condemning Jesus to be crucified. We had lunch at the Fountain Coffee shop in the old city, No. 62 Dabbagha to be exact. We walked through a few of the old city gates, and I got to see what Jesus meant by the eye of the needle, which is more or less a small door in the big gate that would still open even after the gate is shut and sealed after sun down. We shopped at Cardo, then saw the golden menorah and the western wall. Got to pray at the western wall, which had separate section for men only and women only. Afterward we had Kay's teaching on the southern steps of the temple.

In the early morning of May 21st, we had Kay's teaching on top the mount of Olives, at the sanctuary of the Dominus Flevit. Then we walked down the Palm Sunday road on which Jesus rode the young donkey into the city the beginning of the week that he was crucified. We entered the garden of Gethsemane, spent sometimes praying individually.
Then we headed out to the tower of David and visited the History of Jerusalem museum. We took a walk through the old city again, had lunch and then we went into the western wall tunnel. I got to pray at the foundation stone of the temple in the tunnel, which is the point closest to the Holy of Holies.

Day 8, Thursday May 22nd, it's our free day in Jerusalem to do whatever we want. Some choose to rest, some went back to the old city to shop some more. I, Beth, Dolly and a couple other folks went to visit the Knesset, basically the Israeli parliament but they do not like to call it parliament like any other nation. Knesset is a word found in the old testament, basically meant a big assembly. It has 120 members, 12 tribes, 10 men each tribe. It takes 10 men to assemble a synagogue, which came from the story that if had there been found 10 righteous men, God would not have destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. The member's desks were arranged on the floor in the shape of a menorah. The seating arrangement is as followed: the speaker is on the dais. The prime minister sits in the middle, facing the speaker. The coalition are on his right. Opposition on his left and the independent are behind him.

Afterward I and Beth went to visit the Israeli Supreme Court. We went into one of the courtroom and listen to one of the case's proceeding. We thought at first it was a military tribunal of some kind but then later we realized it was an appeal case of a Hamas member.

Thursday night, we went to see a dance performance at the YMCA, which Avi our tour guide told us about. His daughter would have been one of the dancers had she not taken ill that evening.

Friday, May 23, we went to visit Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were first discovered. We went on to Masada, the last Jewish holdout in the rebellion against Rome that started in 66 AD and ended in 73 AD, three years after the Jerusalem temple had been burned to the ground in the year 70 AD. They have a slogan that Masada shall never fall again, ie. there will always be a nation of Israel from now on. We rode a cable car to the top and back down. We ended the day at the Dead Sea. The water is as clear as can be but feels like oil in your hand. I actually floated. They told us not to get our heads in the water nor try to swim. I did it anyway to see what it's like. The worst is when the water got into my nose. It cleared my sinuses like eating wasabi. It tasted bitter in my mouth and it got my eyes watered.

First day of the tour, May 15th, we departed the hotel right at 8:00 am and went to visit Korazim. This is the city where Jesus said that Sodom and Gomorah would be better on the day of judgment than it because if they had heard what they heard, they would have repented. Some sixty synagogues facing the wrong way, north, instead of Jerusalem, which is south of the Galilee. The graven images inside the synagogue.

We then had lunch at kibbutz Kfar Blum. From there we went on to visit Tel Dan (or Laish), the northern most city in Israel. We can look across and see Lebanon. We also visited the Golan Height, and heard the story of Eli Cohen, a man the Mossad planted in Syria's highest leadership echelon, ...

It was pointed out to us that all tombs in a Jewish cemetery would have the feet of the people being buried point toward Jerusalem so that when Messiah comes, they just get up and go without any need for GPS.

Next day, May 16, we visited Mt. Carmel, where the prophet Elijah called down fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice and slew 450 of the Baal's prophets....

Had boxed lunch and we visited Ceasarea Maritima, the Roman sea port, Herod's palace, the Hippodrome where we had Kay's teachings, ....

May 17, we visited Meggido, or Har Meggido, the site of Armageddon, where the nations will gather to go to war ....

We had lunch in Nazareth, which is now an Arab town. The fresh dates for desert tasted so good that I no longer want the dried ones. Brought the seeds home, hope to grow a tree in my backyard!

We went to the site on the bank of the Jordan where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist .... I had my Jordan Baptism. Check my Facebook for the pictures.

May 18, we went to Capernaum, the synagogue where Jesus read the Torah, where the house of Peter and the healing of his mother in law took place, and there is a Catholic church on site, then the mount of Beatitudes, lunch with the sisters of the convent, spaghetti and potatoes, we also got to see the Jesus' boat, then we were transported by boat back to our hotel in Tiberius and went to dinner at Decks at night.

May 19, we visited the ruins of Bet She'an, one of the ten of the ten cities composed the Roman decapolis at Jesus' time. We saw the Roman bath houses and how people then led a life of such unconstraint behaviors, .... Then we were on our way up to Jerusalem, stopping by and had lunch at Genesis Land. Along the way, we saw the border fence with Jordan, which still had plenty of land mines all along, though it is all mapped, unlike it is on the Golan Heights or along the border with Lebanon.

Leaving Frankfurt for Tel Aviv, when I checked in my bag at the counter, the El Al employee marked a code on a plastic card which I gave to the guy at the security checkpoint. And based on that code, a bunch of us got selected for additional security screening. We were made to sit and wait for "English security screening" and so we talked among ourselves and figured as much, that if you spoke English and traveled by yourself, then you will be subjected to additional scrutiny, regardless of whether you are male or female, American, German, Norwegian, .... My plane was supposed to be taking off at 14:20 but I didn't get on the plane until 16:10. When we told the security guy about our worry of missing our plane, he assured us if that's our main concern, put it out of our mind and do not worry about it. And true to his word, they held the plane for us. And the passengers on the plane were pretty good sport about it. No one grumples, no weird look, .... I guess they've learned to get used to it. And it wasn't just me, there were like 15 people on that plane being held up by security. The security staffs were courteous and kept it pleasant. They went through everything and swiped for explosive residue very carefully. Checking out all the batteries, for my camcorder, my laptop, my camera, ... through X-ray machine.

The flight obviously arrived late at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. Adam didn't find his bag from the baggage claim so he went to lost and found. His bag never left North Carolina so they compensated him a few Euros. I picked up the rental car and since I had forgotten all my MapQuest printouts at home, we had to ask for direction to my hotel before we can figure out how to get to Adam's hostel on Ben Yehuda street. Adam and I met on the plane coming in from Frankfurt. He too had been subjected to additional security screening since he spoke English and traveled all by himself. He's from North Carolina, had one more semester in college and he's going to bump around Israel for two months, trying to learn a little Hebrew and working whatever jobs he can find to get some money for room and food. Got to my hotel, which is the Crown Plaza at 145 Hayarkon St. in Tel Aviv, right on the beach. Asking for direction is rather involved since we have to listen to what people say, and write down best you can the name of the streets in Latin alphabets because people can't spell out the street name for you since they only know it in Hebrew. I managed to drop off Adam after a few rounds driving around the three main streets, Hayarkon, Ben Yehuda, and Dizengoff, and many smaller streets, a lot of which are as narrow as alleyways in the US.

Got back to the hotel, which I got the night for free since I had converted my AA frequent flier miles into hotel points before they expired. Took my carry on bags up. I was upgraded to a suite, 1705, so I checked out the suite and all the goodies left in the room for me by the general manager. By the time I got down, my car was gone, with my big checked baggage with all my clothes still in it. Talked to the valet guy in front of the hotel, he told me he saw a car got towed, maybe it was my car. Found that the towing company had a lot at 5 Hayarkon St., a good half hour walk up the street. I found out that the city of Tel Aviv generates their revenue through towing fees, about 260 shekels per car every time. Walked to the lot, asked the guy who ran the place, he told me to go around the lot and find my car, then I can pay the fine and have the car back. I walked around twice but couldn't locate the car. He walked also but couldn't either. Since it's a rental car I just picked up, I don't remember what the license plate was. All I can recall was that it's a white Fiat with the middle number on the license plate is 108. Israel plate's format is xx-xxx-xx. So he told me to wait until all of his drivers came back to the lot and if I still couldn't locate my car, I need to call the police and report it stolen as well as notify the rental car company. All three of his last drivers came back, this is about 1:00 am already. I walked another half hour back to the hotel, called the police and reported the car stolen. They came by, asked me exactly where I parked the car. They showed me the sign in Hebrew said that the handicapped lot was 12 meters long, not one car length like I thought. They called the towing company and the company said they have a record of my car on the lot. So they took me back to the lot. I was told to walk around and locate my car. I told the same guy I had talked to earlier that I couldn't find it just an hour ago, after all of his drivers had come in. The police officer was going to leave me there but I asked him not too because if I couldn't find my car, I was going to call him again. So the police officer walked with me, with his flash light. This time I had the full license plate number. We still couldn't locate it. The police officer went back and spoke to the guy in Hebrew. While they were talking, since I had no idea what they were saying, I took one more walk around the lot, a prayer walk it was, then I saw the license plate. Stuck my key and the door opened. So I went and paid the fine, drove back to the hotel, after getting lost for a few minutes as well as getting something for dinner.

I forgot all the MapQuest printouts I had of directions to places I want to visit, among them Independence Hall, where David Ben Gurion read the declaration of independence on May 14, 1948, declaring the establishment of the modern state of Israel. So I called tourism information desk, they told me it's at 17 Rothschild. I was advised that it's closed at 2:30 and that the parking situation is hopeless there. So I checked out of the hotel, stuck all my luggage in the car, left the car at the hotel and took a taxi to 71 Rothschild since the taxi driver didn't know there Independence Hall was. It ended up 17 Rothschild was not the building. Talked to some people around there and they said maybe it's 70 and I had heard it wrong. So I started walking down the street to 70 Rothschild. Along the way, I stopped in to buy a water bottle, now that I had changed my US dollars to Israeli shekels, to prevent a repeat of the problem I had the night before, when some place I wanted to get something for dinner didn't want my US dollars. I asked the guy selling the water bottle and he told me Independence Hall would be back in the direction where I came from. So I went back, stopped by some kind of Jewish museum, asked the staffs there and was told it's 16 Rothschild, not 17. Maybe the girl I spoke to on the phone at the tourism information translated into English wrong. Anyway, I finally found it, paid the 17 shekels admission and was shown a film and then self guided myself on the tour to the main room and we see that picture of David Ben Gurion stood in front of the microphones reading the declaration of independence. There were about 60 to 70 Jewish kids in the room, all singing Jewish song. I spoke to them and found out later it was a ceremony where they got their identity cards at 16 years of age. I found out the night before from talking to the police that the official independence celebration was according to the Jewish calendar, which is the 5th of Iyar, not the Gregorian May 14th, which had happened five days before. Such a disappointment because I was hoping to see the fireworks and witness for myself how wild the Jews celebrate. Well, I learned something new. Afterward, I walked back to the hotel, checking out all the shops along the way and grabbed lunch as well. Saw a whole bunch of IDF gals doing their job at an open market on Allenby street. Had a picture taken with them, check it out on my Facebook, along with many other pictures I update each day as I tour Israel with Precept. Picked up a local SIM card so I can use with my unlock blackberry and Pingo to make cheap phone calls home to the US. Got back to the hotel, picked up the car, drove back to the airport, returned the car, found the Precept folks, got on the bus with them and was taken to Tiberius for a good dinner and good night sleep at the Gai Beach Hotel.

After Mother's Day lunch at church, and a great sand volleyball game, my brother dropped me off at the airport for my American Airline flight to London late Sunday afternoon. Before I knew it, the plane that was supposed to come in from Korea and turn around to fly us to London was late. It was a rather long flight to London once we left DFW International Airport. I sat and there wished the Concorde experiment had succeeded. After getting to London half an hour later than scheduled, we had to wait for a gate. Then for whatever reason, London Heathrow will not announce the gate for my connecting flight to Frankfurt, or any other departing flights, until 15 minutes before boarding time, so I cannot possibly get out and see London since I have no idea which terminal and what kind of security check delay I have to go through. The British Airway flight to Frankfurt was on time so it's not too bad. We landed at Frankfurt and had to be transported by bus to the terminal. It was a surprise since I thought the Germans were pretty proud of their technological advances and their precision and promptness in everything they do. As the plane approached for landing, I see big swaths of yellow on the ground. I thought it was wheat but my uncle who picked me up from the airport said it's mustard.

I did enjoyed the autobahn experience where there is no speed limit. I got to see the old houses, the narrow streets, ... of Neuwied where my uncle lives with his wife and two kids. We stayed up late into the night catching up since I hadn't seen him since he left Vietnam in 1987 for Czechslovakia, then crossed into East Germany and then West Germany.

I did as much as I could before checking all the code in and left my laptop with my manager so he can get it fixed. It's a dual core but somehow Windows only recognizes one core. It should be all good when I come back in two weeks.

Went to Fry's and got me a few 8mm tapes, using the gift card I won last Saturday at Dallas Tech Fest. I thought there were 8mm to VHS adapter but apparently I got confused between 8mm and VHS-C.

Thuy's graduation is tomorrow morning at TCU. Then there are at least three election watch parties in the evening but I won't make it since Thuy's having a graduation party in the evening as well.

This Sunday is Mother's Day. Will celebrate at church after the service then I'll head to the airport and fly out to Frankfurt to see my uncle and his family before heading to Tel Aviv. I'll be in Israel the evening of May 13th. I'll spend the day roaming the city and see how the Israelis celebrate their 60th anniversary of the establishment of the modern state of Israel on Wednesday, May 14th before meeting up with the Precept group for a two-week Biblical tour.

Will be back on the 26th. If I get access to the internet and not too tired, will try to post something between now and then.

Here is a great article on who is Becky Miller. Don't forget to get out and vote. In Vietnamese we have a saying, for every time you get caught, there would have been ten times you didn't.

Spent the day attending Dallas Tech Fest. Learning a few new things, among them the Microsoft Robotics Studios. Getting a little more familiar with things like REST, Groovy, and Spring. At the end of the day, I won a $50 Fry's gift card. I rarely ever won anything at these drawings. However, that was different today. The top prize was a Mac mini with 120GB hard drive together with a copy of Microsoft Vista. This fest was sponsored by two notable sponsors, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft, who are now partners rather then competitors, and a few other sponsors. I overslept a little bit and missed the first morning section on Google Android this morning.

Work has been crazy. We are growing so we hired three new developers, two Java and one Axapta. Then two senior developers left to pursue other opportunities. So we backfilled those two positions. We have five new developers who aren't exactly well versed in our system. And I am taking off for Israel in two weeks so ....

The municipal elections are in full swing all around. Tim O'Hare running for mayor of Farmers Branch, Ron Branson for mayor of Carrollton, Sue Richardson for Irving city council.

I am learning so much in my Precept class as we go through the book of Daniel in detail. You should check out to see if there's a Precept class in your area and join it.

We got to hear from State Representative Linda Harper-Brown tonight at the Dallas County Young Republicans monthly meeting tonight. She's obviously a conservative legislator, passionate to serve the people of this great state. She's one of those doing her best in whatever position she's been elected to and not just use it as a stepping stone to that next higher and bigger office. She will give you an honest answer to every question asked. A great listener, willing to work hard, doing her due diligence to read and research every bill before she votes on it.

Finally got my taxes done. 2007 was a very blessed year. My AGI crossed into the six figure territory. I hit the Social Security tax ceiling, however was able to avoid the AMT. According to Turbo Tax data, my charitable giving was more than twice that of the national average of people in my income bracket and I am very proud of that.

All in all it has been good this weekend. Friday, our company's entire IT department moved to the new office location in Richardson. We moved into the facility of a company we bought last year. All they had there is a NOC and a support call center. The cube at the new place is bigger, with more open space, half wall and a lot of clear glass. Will see how the noise is on Monday, when everyone will be there.

Saturday, spent most of the day in class for my real estate license. I want to be a broker, so I don't have to pay anyone when I start buying and selling real estate investments.

Started doing my taxes on Saturday night, almost finish except I realized I need the information on the disk in my desktop computer that crashed about a month ago for capital gain and loss.

Today after church I went to Ron Branson's meet and greet. Ron will be challenging the incumbent mayor in the upcoming May 10th municipal election. Hope we'll get her out of there because she's done nothing good in office but plenty of things to annoy, irritate the good people of Carrollton all around.

Afterward I headed over to Micro Center to grab me 3MB of memory for my Mac mini, and a couple of NAS so I can read the data of the disks. I had two disks in my desktop running Windows XP x64, one old IDE and an SATA, with certain critical data mirrored from one disk to the other. The problem is that the entire box crashed and I need information on long term capital gain and loss to do my taxes. So here I am going with a new strategy, Mac and NAS. I wanted the D-Link DNS-323 for my 500GB SATA disk and the Eagle Consus T-Series ET-CSTNASU2-BK for my 120GB IDE disk. It showed quantity of one in stock but neither I nor the guy who worked there could find the D-Link so I settled with a Vantec eSATA/FireWire/USB2.0 external enclosure instead.

Got home, tried the Eagle Consus, couldn't get it to work. I can assign an IP address to it but can't write anything to it to configure the SAMBA server or the FTP server. Tried to use the USB connection instead but my Mac mini couldn't recognize it and my Windows XP laptop recognized an "IDE to USB" mass storage device being plugged in but couldn't access it. So, do not buy the EagleTec T-Series if you are looking for network storage. The VanTec works perfect with my Mac mini, plugged it in with the FireWire cable, powered on and whoa la, it's right on my Mac mini desktop. I pulled the file I need, and now I need to go finish up my income tax return. Finally opened up my Mac mini again, stick the two new sticks of memory in and whoa la, I have 3GB of memory in my Mac mini. A very happy camper I am indeed.

Lost my blackberry on Sunday when I went to buy weed block fabric from Lowe's in Arlington for our church's volleyball court. So went and got me the Blackberry 8820, the latest BB without a camera offered by AT&T.

Got the 3Gb of PC5300 667MHz but it seems I cannot get it recognized when inserted into my Mac mini. No beep, no error message, just cannot see anything on screen. Will have to figure out why, probably because no PRAM "zapping" since I don't have an Apple keyboard and the video memory is shared with main memory.

I went out and got me a Mac mini to use until I can fix my Windows XP 64 desktop. I enjoyed getting used to this Mac. It runs pretty well consider only on 1Gb of memory.

I was out walking for Randy today and there was this lady, who opened the door after I rung her door bell and just started spilling all the expletives at me. I guess she must have been sleeping. Anyway, I apologized, got the door shut in my face, and moved on to the next house. She came back out, started yelling at me and asked if I have a solicitor's permit. I said no, what I am doing is protected political speech. She threatened to call the police. I again patiently explained to her that I wasn't selling anything and that it's protected political speech, my first amendment right. It's just crazy!

My desktop went dead. I woke up one morning, sat down in front of the computer, moved the mouse, clicked on something but nothing happened. I tried rebooted the machine, that didn't help. Now Windows XP 64 just kept rebooting by itself. Sometimes things are all mangled up on screen. I think my video card just went bad. Will find sometimes to get a new one and put in to see what happen. Until then, my computer use at home will be limited to necessity, not so much surfing on this tiny little laptop screen as I would have on my 24" flat screen LCD monitor. Granted I could hooked up the laptop to the monitor but I am too lazy. Plus, I still need to help Randy with the runoff so no surfing equals more time to help with the race until April 8th. And I am serving in Senatorial District 8 nominations committee so that takes some times too.

Caught the tail end of oral argument in the case of Dick Anthony Heller vs. District of Columbia.

Here is the gist of the D.C. ban:

First, D.C. Code § 7-2502.01(a) generally makes it unlawful for any person to possess an unregistered firearm within the District.

Second, D.C. Code § 7-2502.02(a)(4), which was enacted by the D.C. City Council in 1976, generally bars the registration of any “[p]istol,” which is defined as “any firearm originally designed to be fired by use of a single hand.”

Third, D.C. Code § 22-4504 prohibits carrying a pistol without a license.

Fourth, D.C. Code § 7-2507.02 requires that all lawfully owned firearms—both pistols and long guns—must be kept “unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock or similar device unless [the] firearm is kept at [the registrant’s]
place of business.”

Number 1 & 2 basically bans ownership of hand gun.

Number 3 limits to security & law enforcement personnels only.

Number 4 is the most grievous of all. What used is it if you are under tremendous distress, imminently fear for your life and limbs, and for the life of you cannot remove the trigger log, or for heaven's sake, be able to assemble and load your gun in the dark.

What's interesting is the argument by the proponent of the ban, now they want to leave it in the hand of the legislature(s) instead of the court(s) to make law. It's also interesting to note what the chief counsel for the District of Columbia had to say: "the law is reasonable regardless of constitutional right." Now that's scary! What happens to the protection of minority? Is this now mob rule? The majority can pass whatever reasonable legislation without regard to the minority? Remember the words of Benjamin Franklin said, we are given a constitutional republic if we can keep it.

What puzzled me is the fact that the counsels for Dick Heller kept stressing the fact that the right to keep handgun at home. Heck, I have a constitutional right to self defense, subject to reasonable regulation such as federal building, secure area at the airports, ..., places where I can be sure no one has gun. If I go down to Oak Cliff, you betcha I want my concealed carry piece on my person because there is no cop to cordon off the entire area around me at all times to make sure no one else has a gun either. And for small guy like me, a six foot five three hundred pounds guy can do me serious harm even without a gun so I still need some means of self defense that is immediately available to me unless I have a bodyguard with me at all times.

Sure, if you ask all the cops, every one of them would agree that if nobody else has a gun, their job would be so much safer. But reality is that you cannot prove a negative, ie. it is not possible to guarantee that no one else possesses a gun. Do the criminals care to obey the ban, you betcha not.

Congress already has put plenty of law in the book, let's strictly enforce those:

The most frequently applied provision generally prohibits the possession of firearms by any person “who has been convicted in any court of[] a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.” 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1).

: this is already ridiculous, what if it's non-violent crime, like tax evasion?

Section 922(g) also generally prohibits the possession of firearms by fugitives from justice; unlawful users of controlled substances; persons who have been adjudicated as mental defectives or committed to mental institutions; aliens illegally present within the United States; persons dishonorably discharged from
the armed forces; persons who have renounced their United States citizenship; persons subject to restraining orders that include a finding that the individual is a credible threat to the physical safety of an intimate partner or child; and persons convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence (unless such convictions
have been expunged, etc.). 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(2)-(9).

In addition, Congress has prohibited the private possession of firearms at particular locations. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. 930 (2000 & Supp. V 2005) (federal government facilities); 40 U.S.C. 5104(e)(1)(A) (Supp. IV 2004) (Capitol Grounds and Capitol Buildings); 49 U.S.C. 46505(b)(1) (“concealed dangerous weapon” “when on, or attempting to get on, an aircraft”).

ISI put together an event for supporters in the Dallas area Thursday night. We heard from general Josiah Bunting III, who served as superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute during the time when the US Supreme Court ruling came down forcing VMI to accept women. He talked about what a classic liberal arts education should be, so different from what we see now in America's colleges and universities. He talked about negative learning at the Ivy League schools such as Yale, Princeton, .... Problems with the board of trustees being overwhelmed with liberal professors who have many Ph.D. degrees and not standing up to them when they try to impose their views on their students instead of teaching the students to critically think for themselves. But that problem is starting to be addressed, thank God!

Spent most of Saturday and Sunday afternoons walking and knocking on doors for Randy Dunning, who is in the Republican Primary Runoff election on April 8th, early voting begins March 31st.

I was in Austin Friday afternoon and Saturday morning for the Republican Party of Texas quarterly SREC meeting. Then went on to Gunsmoke in Columbus, Texas for the ATF day, hosted by the Austin YRs. I personally don't smoke or drink but do shoot and I celebrate everyone's right to do so. Government should have no business telling us how to live our lives. I think I am falling in love with the Marlin Model 1894 Cowboy lever action and will have to buy me one that shoots .357 Magnum / .38 Special. We camped out last night and had Cowboy church on site this morning. It was so much fun.

I along with five other guys helped my friend Kelly moved her piano this morning. Then I went home for lunch and then picked up the election judge supply. Afterward walked a precinct for Randy Dunning before heading home to clean up and got ready for the Dallas GOP Lincoln Day dinner tonight.

It's scary during the discussion tonight I discovered that a candidate for National Committeewoman for Texas, telling me that my right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are given to me by the US military and US government. I was like, NO, I was endowed by my Creator, the US military and US government secure, preserve and protect those rights. Nobody gives me those rights but my Creator. The constitutional republic form of government and our brave men and women in uniforms and patriots through the ages have shed blood and laid down their lives to make sure evil men like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Tse-tung, Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro and the likes do not infringe on my rights. She must not have read the US Declaration of Independence, the part that read as follow: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ...."

Talking about government, Carrollton mayor Becky Miller hates my guts, even comment I posted on an article in the local newspaper got removed but thank God for the internet, here is a cached version.

I've been practicing my guitar pretty consistent, ten minutes a day, not skipping any day, even if it means from 2:30 to 2:40 am before I hit the sack. Proud of myself!

It's been a while since I last posted. It's unlike me but the primary comes at me fast. Before I know it, I need to pick up the election materials this Saturday, then Monday go to the polling location to make sure everything I need for Tuesday is there. Between now and then, a lot of phone banking. I am turning everyone I know out for Mike Huckabee, Robert Francis, Randy Dunning, and Bill Fay.

On top of that, work has been extremely busy. We were already growing and in need of more software engineers, then two senior developers left, so the problem compounded. My boss is interviewing and hiring as fast as he can. Can't seem to get enough resume of experienced folks, even with all the recruiting firms. It's just crazy but it's a good problem to have compare to what I was facing at Nortel over the seven years I was with them.

And I have been reading as much as I can all the recommended reading materials and watching all the recommended videos before my trip to Israel this May. I cannot stop being amazed at all the miracles God has done with with his chosen people, especially the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the nation of Israel, the UN vote on November 29th, 1947, and then declaration on May 14, 1948; and the six day war in 1967, Yom Kippur war in 1973.

Finished my first half marathon on Saturday. I was aiming for 2:20:00 but just past the 11th mile marker, I had a massive cramp in both calves and so had to limp all the way to the finish line. Every time I tried to run again after that, the cramp would kick in immediately. It's embarrassing and maddening when runners one after another just past you and even at the finish line, where all the cameras trained on you and for the life of me I couldn't even pick up the pace to finish. Being a political animal that I am, I noticed Charlie Geren yard signs were all along the marathon route, and thought what a smart politician. Talking of politician, presidential candidate Alan Keyes came to the Dallas YRs happy hour yesterday. I told his people he should concentrate on running and getting elected governor first.