Terrorism sucks

London gets bombed. It was bound to happen. The tube is a tempting target. But they will track down the bombers because London has the most video cameras per person of ANY city in the world. And great counterterrorism units thanks to the IRA. Building a bomb is not hard, placing a bomb is not hard, getting away with this kind of thing IS hard. England has its shit straight.

America on the other hand is fucked. We are a huge country. We have thousands of miles of tracks, mass transit in most cities and massive coastlines. Protecting these assets is a massive undertaking. It will take billions. Now where could we get money like that? Of course! The federal budget! Oh wait, we're dumping 400 billion into a lie in Iraq. Our National Guard is there, our reserves are there. They are spending MY TAX DOLLARS to provide a fertile training ground for Al Qaida. Iraq is far better than Afghanistan. I man, what's in Afghanistan? Nothing. But Iraq had lots of big cities. Lots of places to hide, sympathetic citizens, lots of unemployed army folks. And you can get there on a number of airlines. Thanks George! You fucktard.

Kinda freakin out here

Okay, go take a look and tell me we're not moving a little bit towards the Taliban here. I filmly believe in separating Religion and the Military and keeping them as far apart from each other as possible. I know that 'there are no athiests in a foxhole' and that these people are not Jihadists. But it's a very small step to go from Spiritual Warfare to Actual Warfare.

You have probably never seen an army missile used in a church service or a pastor dressed in fatigues, but that is exactly what you'll find Sundays at New Born Fellowship Christian Center in Rochester, where church leaders have decided to conduct a new program called Spiritual Warfare.

Our military is already a little too 'Onward Christian Soldiers' for my tastes as it is. The Airforce Academy had some trouble with spouting off Bible teachings and every time BushCo thanks GOD(tm) for the strength to carry on this insane war I winge almost as much as I do when we ask for his almighty help in glorious victory against Wassamatta U in the big game this Friday.

I know that these people are just trying to shake things up a bit. It's theme Sunday and that always helps boost attendance. But they seem to be missing the point. The job of the military is to (in theory)defend our country. And to do that, they kill people. They don't do it through prayer or through calm negotiations. Warfare is not not a noble venture. It is a bloody, chaotic and ugly thing. In war, unspeakable attrocities are commited by both sides. The innocent suffer.

To the good people of this church; I recommend that you think of some other theme. Something with less horrific connotations. Maybe 'Battle Royal' or 'Holy Crusade'. Hmmm No, those don;t quite work do they. How about just wearing funny hats. God has a sense of humor. I'm sure he'd dig funny hats.

2005 season - day one

The frist official day is in the can and I am pretty pleased. The heat
wave that has plauged us for several weeks seems to have eased up. It
was a perfect day. So much can ride on the weather. Too cold and people
don't want to unbundle to try on clothes. Too hot and people don't want
to add layers. Rain is a tricky thing. Rain in the morning is a sales
killer but if a nice day turns to crap we still tend to keep the die
hards.

Every year is a bit of a crap shoot. You can't know what's really
happened with a show until you set up and can go talk/gossip with your
fellow rennies. Lots of changes this year. The human powered rides are
missing, several merchants are absent and the street character cast
comprised mostly of volunteers is almost half of last years numbers.
Attendance was a bit light but our sales were good. I don't think the
fair is in trouble but you're always keeping your eyes and ears open for
signs of trouble. We want to build a booth here and you hear stories
about folks building nice booths only to have the show fold the next
year.

Last years first Sunday was aweful. We're hoping to change that
situation this year. Wish us luck.