They call it the Second Amendment: "the right to keep and bear arms". It's always good for a hot debate ... or two ... or a thousand.

Here in Texas, there is a concealed handgun law . Initially, there were certain limitations as to where you could take your weapon. You could have it on your premises and in your vehicle. But you couldn't take it to, for example, an establishment that sells alcoholic beverages. Probably a smart thing - alcohol and firearms just don't mix.

But now, we're on the verge of approving (or have already approved) some new laws in the Texas legislature.

How about the legal right to take your weapon to work (SB 730)? You just never know if you're going to need to pack that piece to have some extra voting power in the next staff meeting. That one was approved by the Senate. Or if you're a student, how about taking it to class with you (HB 1893)? Of course, the "right to bear arms" is exceedingly important at exam time. That one is under discussion. And as for alcohol and firearms not mixing, how about SB 729 - a defense for someone carrying a gun into a bar if no sign was posted to the contrary.

But in the words of Senator Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo ... out in northwestwest Texas, I might add):

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The day is upon us. April Fools' Day . April 1. It isn't a Hallmark day as such - but if it is celebrated by South Park , it must be a part of our present culture [said with tongue in cheek - hehe]. It is typically marked by hoaxes and practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, neighbors, and the like, with the aim being to embarrass those gullible enough to believe the prank. Some of these hoaxes are certainly more elaborate than others. Fortunately, the jokes are only supposed to last until noon!

I am sure we've all fallen prey to a merry prankster at some time during our lives.

But what is truly humorous is the origin of April Fool's Day. In a bygone era in France, April 1 was counted as the first day of the year. When King Charles IX changed the first day of the year to January 1 (by switching to the Gregorian calendar), some people stayed with April 1. It was those that continued to celebrate the first day of the New Year on April 1 that were called "April Fools".

Leave it to the French to go their own way!

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Today was the first race of the Formula One season, and it was well worth waiting for over what always seems like a long winter. The season ends, the development and testing begins, and we anxiously await the new designs to appear. Then, the first race is upon us and we see the results of the winter's testing.

There is no way that I would have ever expected today's result.

Brawn GP - a team that almost didn't exist at all - gave us a 1-2 performance in its first Grand Prix outing . Jenson Button scored the victory, and Rubens Barrichello placed second.

What is incomprehensible in the world of Formula One is that a team rarely if ever wins at its first go-round. Add to that the fact that this was the former Honda team of years past. Honda officially left Formula One over the winter due to rising costs and a global recession making an appearance. With no further factory support, the team was purchased by a group lead by none other than Ross Brawn, the chief technical director and designer. So to win your first race out of the box when a month ago your team barely existed (and had just recently acquird their only sponsor to date: Virgin Air) - that's pretty amazing stuff.

What makes this story much easier to comprehend is that it is, in fact, Brawn leading the charge.

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Today is the day to celebrate Earth Hour . I guess it's a "celebration" or perhaps it would be considered some form of 21st century grass roots activism. Perhaps it's symbolic of the impact of carbon emissions on our environment. 

The task? At 8:30 pm, turn off your lights for one hour. The thought? Turning off the lights shows the world that climate change is important. By symbolically reducing your carbon footprint for an hour, you are expressing your belief in the need for change - for responsible energy use and for diminishing the effects on the environment. It makes a "statement" about global warming.

In 2008, 50 million people worldwide switched off their lights. We were witness to such global landmarks as the Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco), the Colosseum (Rome), the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square (New York) all standing in darkness.

So that's the part that makes sense to most people. But there are some that even consider it symbolic for another reason - the renunciation of industrial civilization. Doesn't that seem a bit extreme?

Well, perhaps not.

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There is something about this that is simply worth sharing.

It's not often that I find a passage that I share here verbatim. But every so often, something, somewhere, rings true - and I think this definitely qualifies.

Quincy Jones was the keynote speaker at SXSW in Austin this year. Although I was not in the hall to witness this live, it is most certainly something that bears repeating. At the end of his address, he shared the following words with the crowd as they stood and joined hands and repeated them together:

"On this day ...

I will mend a quarrel.

I will search out a forgotten  friend.

I will dismiss a suspicion and replace it with a trust.

I will rather say, "I'm sorry I did" than "I wish I had" ...

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Updated 4/2/2009: see below

Further discussion and information can be found in the forum here .

Here is a rather distressing piece of information that I read this morning:

1 of every 4 Texans is uninsured.

That's a rather humbling and disheartening statistic. With that in mind, our health care system needs to continue to seek out ways for patients to get the care they need, when they need it, in a cost-efective manner.

Direct access to physical therapy can help contribute to the solution. By removing one additional step in the process of attaining the necessary care, Texans can save a significant amount of money. Health care costs will drop, and this will help everyone - insured and uninsured.

Take a moment to ponder why anyone in the health care system would oppose this. It's an issue of access, and cost savings - which are both good things for all Texans. Direct access has not been found to increase liability claims in states that have it. In the end, it's a winning proposal for all. But in the same breath, you also need to consider the forces that would oppose such legislation and the lobbyists that support them.

This issue shouldn't be about the lobbyists, and it shouldn't be about the powers-that-be with the not-so-well-hidden agendas of money and power that continue to tell us that they have the patient's best interest from and center. This is about access to appropriate health care. This is about a system that is financially strapped - for the insured and the uninsured.

And it's about you, the patient.

If you care about your cost of care, and you care about your access to care, then I would suggest one thing: it's time to write to your legislator in support of HB 607 and SB 433. By speaking out, we can all benefit.

Update 4/2/2009: Texas Medical Association reports on their website that Texas ranks #43 of 50 states for a "shortage of physicians, both primary care physicians and specialists". There aren't enough physicians in the state, and they are not supporting direct access to physical therapy to provide improved access to care. Is this about the consumer? Again, you make the call.

It's 15 feet to the basket, 19 feet to the baseline. The distance never changes.The shot remains the same - over and over again.

Some call it a "free throw" ... a "foul shot" ... others call it a "charity shot". Over the course of a basketball lifetime, you will shoot thousands of them. You've been doing it since you were old enough (and strong enough) to do so. And the mechanics haven't changed since you started playing the game.

One ball, one smooth motion, one release, one arc, one swish. Just 15 feet ... over ... and over ... and over ... just you and the ball and the hoop ...

Surely, after a few thousand repetitions, with some coaching, you could learn to drain a minimum of 70 to 80% of them. That doesn't sound at all unreasonable. Purely examining the shot as a motor task alone, I could easily envision 80% being reasonable.

At least that's what you'd think.

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