Man, not a great week if you are a proponent of a woman’s right to choose. Alabama has outlawed abortion altogether and several other states have severely limited it. These laws are not in effect yet, and once they are, they will be challenged in court immediately. That seems to be the entire point of them. The anti-choice right (i.e., the right) is attempting to shoot the moon and use these cases as a catalyst to overturn Roe v. Wade. It’s relentless; it’s audacious; it might work. With Bart O’Kavanaugh seated, conservatives hold a 5-4 advantage on the Supreme Court. If there is a vote along ideological lines, the anti-choicers will win.
This definitely not a slam dunk though. O’Kavanaugh strongly implied during his confirmation hearings that he would not vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Normally I would find this reassuring, but the dude also repeatedly and brazenly lied about his high school yearbook during these hearings – so who knows? It’s also possible one of the other conservative judges (Roberts?) votes with established precedent. It’s also possible it never gets to the Supreme Court. That’s the easiest out for the conservative justices who want to retain their conservative bona fides, but are also loath to overturn established law. It's an endless loop we seem to be stuck in: The lower courts strike down unconstitutional anti-abortion laws; the Supreme Court decides to let them stand without further appeal; and the anti-choicers start hatching their next plan. Lather, rinse, repeat.
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In other news, we are probably not going to go to war with Iran. So, that's good. This is the one area -- literally the only one I can thing of -- in which Donald Trump is better than a run-of-mill Republican president. He doesn’t want to get drawn into yet another soul-crushing, resource-draining war with a Mideastern country. I heard an interview with about this, and he actually strung together a few sentences that made him sound, fleetingly, like a rationale, intelligent leader. It was very surprising. He doesn’t deserve much credit for this -- not starting an unwinnable war is a very low bar and him pulling out of the Iran deal is a big reason for this saber-rattling in the first place – but it does actually sound like he’s the reason the hawks in the administration (e.g., John Bolton) haven’t been able to take it further. Of course, he could change his mind at any time -- we could be invading Tehran by the time I post this entry. That’s a possibility too.
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On a less worrisome note, Lil’ S1 starts baseball tomorrow. I’m curious to see how it goes. He doesn’t know the rules, and he hasn’t played much before. He had a Wiffle ball pitching machine, but he was more interested in using it like a cannon than he was in hitting off it. We also played catch a few times, but he got bored pretty quickly. That’s my guess as to how this is going to go. I think he’ll be into it for the first 15 minutes or so, and then he will quickly fade.
This could be a problem too, as it’s two hours long. I know, that’s insane for a six-year-old. There's an hour-long practice followed by an hour-long game. The idea is to have practice once a week and then a game on Saturday, but our coach wants everything to be on Saturday for logistical purposes, which I totally understand (one-stop shopping), but it’s just too much at one time for the kids. If it was up to me, I would go half-hour practice, short break, half-hour game. Round-trip, the whole thing shouldn’t last more than an hour and a half. It was the same thing for soccer, and the majority of the kids were ready to go home before we even started the game.
But, the thing is, it’s not up to me because I specifically didn’t sign up to be a coach. I want to make sure my kid is into it before I go that route. If he likes it and is willing to do it without a bunch of coercion, then I have no problem being a coach. If he’s “meh” and drags his feet on the whole ordeal, then I don’t want to do it. In soccer I kinda got roped into being a coach anyway – or rather I roped myself – because I would be there watching, and I would get annoyed at how the other parents (who probably didn’t want to do it either) were doing things, so I would volunteer to do them instead.
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S’s parents are in town for a visit. It’s been nice to see them. S actually just left for Africa for work for a week, so they will help out while she’s gone. I still have to do all the heavy lifting, childcare-wise, but they can at least pick the kids up from school, which is a huge help, because it means I don’t have to hurry home from the office, and I can take my workout classes.
Speaking of which, I've had a nice run in which I've been able to take four or five classes every week consistently. I might be in the best shape I've been in since high school wrestling. I'm constantly sore and a little nicked up, but it feels pretty good overall.
------------------------------------
Before S left, we celebrated her birthday at this excellent Cuban restaurant up the street. There are actually a ton of cool (or at least cool-looking) restaurants and bars within walking distance of our new house. Downtown Silver Spring is basically an outdoor strip mall. It’s a good place for kids, but the food options are mostly boring chain establishments (Red Lobster, Macaroni Grill, Nando’s, etc.). However, walking through the side streets, I was noticing some more interesting options. I probably won’t go to any of them until S’s birthday next year, but I like to know they’re around, just in case.
Well, that does it for today. Until next time…
This definitely not a slam dunk though. O’Kavanaugh strongly implied during his confirmation hearings that he would not vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Normally I would find this reassuring, but the dude also repeatedly and brazenly lied about his high school yearbook during these hearings – so who knows? It’s also possible one of the other conservative judges (Roberts?) votes with established precedent. It’s also possible it never gets to the Supreme Court. That’s the easiest out for the conservative justices who want to retain their conservative bona fides, but are also loath to overturn established law. It's an endless loop we seem to be stuck in: The lower courts strike down unconstitutional anti-abortion laws; the Supreme Court decides to let them stand without further appeal; and the anti-choicers start hatching their next plan. Lather, rinse, repeat.
-------------------------
In other news, we are probably not going to go to war with Iran. So, that's good. This is the one area -- literally the only one I can thing of -- in which Donald Trump is better than a run-of-mill Republican president. He doesn’t want to get drawn into yet another soul-crushing, resource-draining war with a Mideastern country. I heard an interview with about this, and he actually strung together a few sentences that made him sound, fleetingly, like a rationale, intelligent leader. It was very surprising. He doesn’t deserve much credit for this -- not starting an unwinnable war is a very low bar and him pulling out of the Iran deal is a big reason for this saber-rattling in the first place – but it does actually sound like he’s the reason the hawks in the administration (e.g., John Bolton) haven’t been able to take it further. Of course, he could change his mind at any time -- we could be invading Tehran by the time I post this entry. That’s a possibility too.
----------------------------
On a less worrisome note, Lil’ S1 starts baseball tomorrow. I’m curious to see how it goes. He doesn’t know the rules, and he hasn’t played much before. He had a Wiffle ball pitching machine, but he was more interested in using it like a cannon than he was in hitting off it. We also played catch a few times, but he got bored pretty quickly. That’s my guess as to how this is going to go. I think he’ll be into it for the first 15 minutes or so, and then he will quickly fade.
This could be a problem too, as it’s two hours long. I know, that’s insane for a six-year-old. There's an hour-long practice followed by an hour-long game. The idea is to have practice once a week and then a game on Saturday, but our coach wants everything to be on Saturday for logistical purposes, which I totally understand (one-stop shopping), but it’s just too much at one time for the kids. If it was up to me, I would go half-hour practice, short break, half-hour game. Round-trip, the whole thing shouldn’t last more than an hour and a half. It was the same thing for soccer, and the majority of the kids were ready to go home before we even started the game.
But, the thing is, it’s not up to me because I specifically didn’t sign up to be a coach. I want to make sure my kid is into it before I go that route. If he likes it and is willing to do it without a bunch of coercion, then I have no problem being a coach. If he’s “meh” and drags his feet on the whole ordeal, then I don’t want to do it. In soccer I kinda got roped into being a coach anyway – or rather I roped myself – because I would be there watching, and I would get annoyed at how the other parents (who probably didn’t want to do it either) were doing things, so I would volunteer to do them instead.
-----------------------------------
S’s parents are in town for a visit. It’s been nice to see them. S actually just left for Africa for work for a week, so they will help out while she’s gone. I still have to do all the heavy lifting, childcare-wise, but they can at least pick the kids up from school, which is a huge help, because it means I don’t have to hurry home from the office, and I can take my workout classes.
Speaking of which, I've had a nice run in which I've been able to take four or five classes every week consistently. I might be in the best shape I've been in since high school wrestling. I'm constantly sore and a little nicked up, but it feels pretty good overall.
------------------------------------
Before S left, we celebrated her birthday at this excellent Cuban restaurant up the street. There are actually a ton of cool (or at least cool-looking) restaurants and bars within walking distance of our new house. Downtown Silver Spring is basically an outdoor strip mall. It’s a good place for kids, but the food options are mostly boring chain establishments (Red Lobster, Macaroni Grill, Nando’s, etc.). However, walking through the side streets, I was noticing some more interesting options. I probably won’t go to any of them until S’s birthday next year, but I like to know they’re around, just in case.
Well, that does it for today. Until next time…
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