Months ago, we stand outside one of the local grocery stores.  We reach into a large bin made of corrugated cardboard and sort through the different pumpkins.  We each have different criteria for our selection as we look through the large collection of these orange masses.  Many years ago, my wife introduced me to the activity of carving pumpkins, one in which she insists that I have artistic ability.  Meanwhile, we put our selections in the cart, go inside to pay for them, and load them into the car.

These large bins are outside the store.  Certainly, there’s absolutely nothing that prevents anyone from simply taking pumpkins home without paying for them.  Can they steal them?  Yes, absolutely.  Do they steal them?  No, they generally don’t.  While I’m sure that some steal these pumpkins that sit outside the store, it’s not a big enough problem where they are compelled to address it.

Continue reading “Photo identification and the ‘integrity of the vote’”

It is 2001, and I meticulously track the baseball season.  My favorite team, the Atlanta Braves, are tracking well into yet another division title.  I am both a bachelor and a night owl and routinely fall asleep to the television on ESPN’s Sports Center.  This is precisely what happens on this September Monday; I expect to wake to the morning version of Sports Center.  I do not.  The conventional news plays on ESPN, which perplexes me.  Then, I watch in horror as I see a plane strike one of the Twin Towers in New York City.  Quite abruptly, the world changed.

Continue reading “The price of perceived safety and security”