Diplomacy with a gun

After work I watched a TV show for a little while with my son.  The show we watched does not matter because you have seen the scene that I am about to describe.  The bad guy got the drop on the good guys yet somehow the good guy got his weapon pointed at the bad guy without getting shot.  This happens all the time in movies and  TV shows.  As you know the next thing that happens is they start talking.  Then the bad guy makes some threat which causes the good guy to drop his weapon and try to talk the bad guy out of whatever it is that he is planning.

My question is "Why?"  The fact that both parties have weapons pointed at the other is proof that diplomacy has failed.  If you could have solved the problem with talking you would have well before you got here.  The only redeeming quality that I can find in this is the hope that if I am ever in this kind of situation the bad guys (yes, I'm a good guy, if you don't believe me just ask me) will think that these rules are in play giving me a chance to get off the first three rounds.  However, I don't really think that this would be the case since bad guys by definition do not play by the rules.

Other things that don't work in real life are:

• Good guys do not have a force field around them.  This makes walking around in an active gun battle problematic.
• As a rule at least some of the bad guys can shoot as well as the good guys.  Having the good guy hit fifty targets while all of those are shooting back and missing does not make sense.
• Grenades do not make fireballs. 
• Hand to hand combat is a last resort.  You want to start with air to ground weapons(bombs,ICBM, etc.).  Then move to artillery fire, mortar fire/sniper weapons, heavy machine guns/ small arms, hand guns, bayonet, sticks, knives, and big rocks before you go with hand to hand.
• No one is getting up three seconds after being thrown through a window without a cut.
• Operating the action on an M-203 grenade launcher does not load a round.  It is a breech loaded weapon.

There are others, but these are some of the most obvious.

Immigration

Almost everyone has heard about the immigration reform that Arizona put into place.  From what I have read the law requires police to investigate if they suspect that people are not there legally.  I don't really have a big problem with this part.  The problem that I have is in proving it.  I'm not real sure that I like the idea of the police asking me to show them my papers.  It just does not give me a good feeling.

Golfer in chief

Obama Chooses Golf Over Funeral

Obama plays more than Bush did.

Now I know why I voted for him.  

National Day of Prayer

Here is the article that I was reading.  As I understand it the problem here is that Congress made a law establishing a national day of prayer which violates the first amendment.  I have read the constitution.  This particular day is observed by presidential proclamation.  
So the first question that pops into my mind is "what if the president issues the proclamation anyway?"  Seems like the only way to fix that would be through impeachment, but said impeachment would violate the first amendment's freedom of speech clause.  Then what do you do?  That would be fun to watch....from another country.
I noticed another day on the list that seems to violate the first amendment.  That would be Thanksgiving.  If you are giving thanks you are thanking someone.  Once Crabby up there in Wisconsin figures out who we are thanking and how we are doing it that will have to go.
Next we will have to cancel Christmas.  This one isn't a presidential proclamation.  It's a federal holiday, but it celebrates the birth of Jesus.  Can't have that can we.  

Golf's meal ticket?

I read this post a few days ago.  I think today with the Masters starting is an appropriate day to comment.  I love golf.  My interest in golf started a few years ago when I bought a house in a golf course community.  I moved there to be closer to my parents.  I figured that it would be silly to live where I did and not know anything about the game.  Then I found out that the game was really fun.
For me the game is about many things which have nothing to do with Mr. Woods.  I love to get out on a pretty day.  The sun and clouds going by lazily as I walk the course is so refreshing to me that if I could start my day with a game I feel I could stop drinking coffee.
I love the challenge.  It looks easy on television, but it is not easy in practice.  The ball seems drawn to the water, sand, or rough by forces that are not covered in any physics class.  Sometimes putts hold the edge of the cup and refuse to drop.  When this happens the best thing to do is nothing because the change you make is likely to put the ball off the green.  Then once in a while the ball does what you want and you think that maybe you could be playing on tour.  Then the game turns around and humbles you again.
The game has been around since well before Tiger Woods, and will survive well after him.