The latest addition to the family!

I'd like to introduce the latest addition to the Schmidt family, a Jack Russell Terrier named "Ryder". She was born on July 3rd and became a member of the family last weekend!

We've been thinking about getting a small dog for a while, but we decided that if we got a small dog, it had to be a big dog at heart. So far she is acclimating well to the new digs, and she is already letting the big dogs know what's what.

Bleeding Black and Gold!

I haven't taken the time to lavish MASSIVE* praise on my favorite soccer team for a while, so I figured it was about time.

If you notice the (single) table to the right, you will see that the beloved Black-n-Gold are sitting all alone at #1! With 22 games played by ALL teams in the league, there is no "game-in-hand" funkiness going on. The Crew have the best record overall, and league lead is their lead to lose.

Our next game is against the #2 Revolution, at home, on Saturday. We'll be without a few key players who got called-up for National Team duties, but the Revs are pretty beat-up as well. Their whole attacking roster seems to be out with injury save the "too-tight-of-a-jersey-wearing-wrapping-his-thumb-for-apparently-no-reason" Taylor Twellman. We all know that TT is a dangerous player who can change games, but can he do it on his own? And can he do it against the MASSIVELY MASSIVENESS that is the Crew?

It may be a bit premature, but I'm really feeling the Supporters' Shield this year. Making the playoffs will be nice after three consecutive years of missing them, but the Shield would be icing on the cake for what is turning out to be one of the best Crew seasons in recent (and not-so-recent) history.

* "MASSIVE" is an inside joke for Crew fans.

He just doesn't get it!

I'll admit, I watched the entire Obama speech last night and, man, can that guy give a speech. He sure knows how to say what people want to hear. If he wasn't such a freaking Socialist, I might actually consider voting for him.

Before you start in on me about how moderate his platform is now, I'm not looking at what he is saying now. I'm basing my opinion on his extreme left voting record in his short stint as a U.S. Senator and an Illinois Senator. Every liberal to run for office moves to the middle at election time. A blonde can dye her hair black, but she is still a blonde.

While I don't consider myself a single issue voter, there are a few issues that I hold near-and-dear to my heart, one of which (go figure) is the Second Ammendment. Here is what Obama said in his speech regarding the 2A:

"The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than they are for those plagued by gang violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals."

When are these people going to learn... The Second Ammendment has absolutely NOTHING TO DO WITH HUNTING!

He won't take guns from hunters, but then again, hunters don't need those nasty semi-automatic pistols and rifles anyway. (SARCASM!)

We already have laws and regulations to keep "AK-47s out of the hands of criminals". We just need to enforce those laws and crack down on the criminals, not the guns or lawful gun owners.

It was a win! Sort of...

I have to say, yesterday's ruling on the DC vs Heller case was a win for the Second Ammendment, but I can't help but feel that it was a bit hollow. A 5-4 decision is technically a win, but it still means that 4 of the 9 most influential people in our government still just don't get it.

The purpose of the Supreme Court is to scrutinize the lower courts' rulings to make sure they fit with the framework set forth in the Constitution, not legislate from the bench based on political leanings. Still, we seem to get a lot of decisions that are obviously split on the party lines. That really scares me, and it should scare you too.

The next President of the United States is probably going to have the opportunity to appoint one (or more) Justices to the Supreme Court. One more left-leaning Justice would've made yesterday a completely different day for millions of gun owning Americans... Think about it.

Today is the day!

The DC vs Heller decision should be coming down in about 29 minutes! For those not familiar, this is arguably the biggest Second Ammendment case ever to come before the Supreme Court. I've been following it pretty closely, and I'm pretty confident that the SCOTUS is going to overturn the DC handgun ban. That's good but, depending on how wide or narrow the ruling is, this could be HUGE for gun owners. From my perspective, the decision could be good, or REALLY good.

I guess we'll see in about half an hour.