HoodaThunk?

Urge your Congressman and Senators to sign an amicus brief on this upcoming Supreme Court case regarding the 2nd Amendment

As a member of the NRA I get occasional e-mails and alerts that bring issues pertaining to the 2nd Amendment to my attention. This morning, I got this one talking about the upcoming Supreme Court case, McDonald v. City of Chicago. This case, filed to challenge the City of Chicago’s ban on private ownership of handguns, was granted certiorari by the Court and is scheduled to be heard this term. Beginning on Monday, 2 Senators and 2 Representatives will be collecting signatures for a Congressional amicus, or “friend of the court”, brief in support of a finding that the 2nd Amendment applies to the States via the doctrine of incorporation though the 14th Amendment. I’ve written about this before, specifically when I noted that 33 State Attorneys General had filed such a brief. Now it’s Congress’ turn.

The NRA alert asks us to contact our Congressmen and Senators to notify them of the brief being circulated and ask them to sign it themselves. I’m happy to do that and I sent notes to Congressman Frank Wolf, Senator Jim Webb, and Senator Mark Warner this morning. I will join with the NRA in suggesting that you do, too. Go to the Senate and House web sites, look up your reps, and pop them a quick e-mail. It only takes a moment. Here’s what I wrote and you can feel free to copy it if you like:

[Congressman Wolf] [Senator Webb] [Senator Warner],

As you may be aware, there is an important case heading to the Supreme Court this term. Titled, “McDonald v. City of Chicago” this case seeks to answer the question of whether or not the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution applies to the States through the doctrine of incorporation via the 14th Amendment. I believe this is what Congress clearly intended when the 14th Amendment was adopted.

Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Jon Tester (D-MT), and Congressmen Mike Ross (D-AR) and Mark Souder (R-IN) are gathering signatures to an amicus brief in support of a finding that the 2nd Amendment secures a fundamental right of all Americans. I am writing today to urge you to sign your name to that brief. Just as other Amendments in the Bill of Rights have been explicitly ruled as protecting the rights of Americans from government actions at all levels, the 2nd Amendment should be considered to apply to all Americans regardless of which State or city they happen to call home. Please seek out either of your colleagues listed above and sign the brief.

Thank you for your time.

If you’d prefer to make a phone call, do that as well. The numbers for the Senate and the House are listed in the NRA Alert I’ve linked above.

November 14th, 2009 Posted by ricjames | 2nd Amendment, Law, Politics | no comments

USAir 1549 flight recreation footage – even more astounding than you thought.

It’s been almost a year since Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Skiles brought their stricken Airbus, USAir flight 1549, to a controlled ditch in the Hudson River. I remain amazed at the skill these 2 men showed at the controls of their ship, not only bringing it to a landing intact but in doing so in such a manner as to have all 155 passengers survive essentially without a scratch on them.

What tended to get lost in the telling was the speed of events; how fast things went very, very wrong and how little time to react the crew actually had. Thanks to a link from Instapundit, we can now see the events recreated in some truly spectacular animation. The link takes us to Wired Magazine and then on to ExoSphere3D. The footage is in a big, honkin’ YouTubeHD window and it’s worth every second to watch. The footage shows you the surrounding area and then takes you on a recreation of the flight from takeoff to splashdown. The entire film is just over 7 minutes long.

In the film window you’ll see an external view of the plane itself. Below that at the lower left you get a view out the cockpit windows. That’s useful for when the moment of the birdstrike comes. You’ll see how fast the strikes happened from the moment that Sullenberger calls out “Birds!” Arrayed around the lower right corner are windows that show the text of the cockpit and radio communications. The actual ATC voice recordings are used during communication between the plane and the ground but the communication between Sullenberger and Skiles only shows as text. You can see them working the problem as best they can in the time they have.

Go have a look for yourself. Nothing I can say will do it justice. And, in case I haven’t said it lately: Captain Sullenberger, First Officer Skiles – good work, gentlemen!

November 14th, 2009 Posted by ricjames | Aviation, Human Interest | no comments