Huckabee is the coolest presidential candidate EVER!  Time to get on the band-wagon and get excited (if you care about the future of our country). 

Weekend in Yosemite!

Here's a little taste of the fun and frivolity I had this last weekend while frolicking in the snow in Yosemite..

They had the biggest snow-fall for a weekend in 20 years!  It was so awesome!  A few friends and I had the entire Winter Wonderland to ourselves... Sigh...

I wanna go back soon!

Things that have transpired recently:

I got a motorcycle.

Oh, and before that I got a motorcycle license.

I've been on a clam-chowder in a bread-bowl kick.  Down by the ocean or San Francisco Bay is best.

An Indian Summer has graced the Bay Area, as it generally does year-by-year.

I've been running up mountains in my spare time.

I ran up Half-Dome in Yosemite National Park, once again. It was snowing and icy up top on the dome, but it was worth it.  Nothing like clinging onto the side of a granite face in a t-shirt and shorts, your hands half frozen.  I never felt closer to death in my life.  It was fun.  I was really worried I'd drop my cell phone off the cliff, too.

God has been teaching me an inordinate amount of late.  Inordinate, except that that seems to be the norm, especially these last two years.  I need Him in my life so much more.  Every day I fail to have Him involved as much as I should. 

Still playing baseball and softball..  We beat the number 1 team in the league last night. 

Busy with work and friends and family.

Now, I'm seeing that the holidays are approaching, once again.  I want to see some snow this year.  One way or another.

Hope all is well.  God bless.

~Jeffrey

Hello again...

Sheesh... It's been forever!  I've been so busy and such a slacker!!  And I'm using way too many exclamation marks!!!

Anyway, life is good, to a certain extent.  Hoping and praying it gets better, of course.  But not any complaints.  None I'd post for YOU to read, anyway.   If you're reading this and you know me, chances are I miss you.  Hope all is well.  We should talk.

Some assorted phone pictures of late...

Foxtails loom large.. at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Heading off for a Summer evening drive...

With my buddy Jasmine. I'm her official "horsey", as I give her piggy-back rides all the time and race all challengers...

That's all for now... My niece and nephew are coming tomorrow, so I'll try to get some shots of them.

Peace.  God bless.

Partial-Birth Abortion Ban...

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court this past week upheld a ban on Partial Birth Abortions. For the first time in the 34 years since the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade invented a Constitutional right to abortion, the Court allowed a law that banned a substantive abortion procedure. 

This is a long-awaited victory for Pro-Life forces.  After vetoes of a federal ban by President Clinton and a U.S. Supreme Court case in 2000 which struck down a state's attempt at a ban of the partial-birth abortion procedure, the highest court in the land has finally at least partially recognized the government's authority to protect human life in this area of the law.

In this case, Gonzales v. Carhart, the Supreme Court said “Where [government] has a rational basis to act, and it does not impose an undue burden, the state may use its regulatory power . . . in furtherance of the legitimate interest in regulating the medical profession in order to promote respect for human life, including life of the unborn.”

Very important, too, was the Court's rationale for deciding this case.  Unlike it has done in the past, the Court chose not to look for some hypothetical situation where the law might be applied unconstitutionally; i.e., the "Strict Scrutiny" standard which, when applied, has struck down many a law.  Instead, the Court majority approached the law with a scrutiny requiring a state to show that it is acting rationally in furtherance of its interest in protecting the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens.  Specifically, the Court noted the damaging effects of this particular type of abortion upon the women who undergo the procedure.  This is not surprising, as the procedure appallingly resembles outright infanticide.

This case signals the possibility that the states or federal government will now be more able to place certain restrictions on the abortion process without them being struck down as unconstitutional.  Thus, such things as parental notification, waiting periods, required ultrasounds, etc. might be more favorably viewed by the Court.

It's interesting to me that this decision, as with many decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, was decided by a 5-4 vote of the 9 Justices.  Two of the majority's five are recent appointees by our current President.  Those people who think that the President doesn't affect our daily lives need look no further to be slapped in the face.  Once appointed, U.S. Supreme Court Justices are there for life or until they retire—long after the President is out of power.

I have once again been reminded how important it is to pray for our Supreme Court, federal, and state judges.  They hold so much power as the final determiners of the laws the Legislative and Executive branches pass.

Praise the Lord for this decision to protect the life of the unborn child.  Keep speaking out against the unconscionable practice of abortion.  Don't ever neglect your right to vote and make a difference in this nation and in the world, by our nation's example.  And most especially, keep praying.