Well THAT'S a first...

So there I was, cruising along on Facebook when BAM, suddenly there's a picture of looks like a dead baby. Wow. Pretty goddamn graphic. Along with the image in a short note about how a friend had miscarried a child at about that age and they had mourned. Then there was the obligatory "Please share if you want  to stop abortion".

The image had just been posted and there were no comments. I looked at the name and it wasn't very familiar. I think it was someone I had just friend-ed through mutual acquaintanceship. Suddenly the following image came to mind:

So I cracked my knuckles and fired off a reply. It touched on several subjects such as how making abortion illegal would not stop abortion, only make it more dangerous (and thus risking lives).  I mentioned that many people do not want a child or don't have the resources to raise a child, which might mean that are pretty miserable for most of their lives.  I  also touched on the hypocrisy of wanting to send doctors who perform abortions to jail, while saying that the mother should not (this is a common belief of abortion opponents).

I also discussed how my mother had been involved with public health in the suburbs of Michigan, where abortion (and sex ed) was widely reviled yet these same mothers would bring their own daughters for the procedure.

Because all abortion is wrong, except for their abortion.

I posted my rant and then want off to eat dinner. When I came back I was surprised to see no replies to the post. There was a message from the woman who posted it. She said she removed the post because "facebook should be for happy things".

I sighed. Yes, it was nice that the picture was gone. But she seemed to miss what I was doing. Facebook doesn't have to be only for "happy things". It's a place for all kinds of things. Good and bad. In the past year friends have posted about relationships beginning and ending. Great joy and great sadness. Health scares, injuries, business ups and downs.  It's been a slug fest of vastly differing opinions on many different subjects. And that's what I like.

I wrote back and told her that while I disagreed with her position, she shouldn't be afraid to express it. There's a saying that people should discuss religion or politics at parties. I could not disagree more.  I don't go to as many parties as I used to. So I don't get to engage in debate as much.That's a shame because they can be a blast (just make sure  everyone keeps it civil and you hide the knives) Luckily Facebook is there, in all it's glory. From pictures of kittens to vocal Christians. From  freethinkers to gun lovers. All of it blurted out in one place, like a big noisy party. A party where people keep poking you and asking you for shit to make their farm better).

An awkward moment...

Here's a short read. It details Mitt Romney sitting down at a restaurant after noticing a mans Vietnam Vet hat. It should have been a quick photo and press the flesh op. What transpires is a wonderfully refreshing moment of honesty showing how Romney, like the rest of the Republican candidates, will never consider letting gays have equal rights.

Why? Because ," I think at the time the Constitution was written it was pretty clear that marriage is between a man and a woman"


That's it.

To Mitt and other's of his ilk, anything that wasn't okay at the time of the writing of the Constitution is just WRONG. Period. I'd like to you think about that position for a moment. Can we see the flaw in that argument?

Here are some things that were just peachy at the time of the writing of the Constitution:

• Slavery 
• Women not having the right to vote 
• Blacks and whites being able to marry 
• Blacks being able to vote 
• Women serving in the military 

And remember all that "States rights" bullshit they keep spouting? That baaaaad bad federal gub'mint? Well they were okay with states settling gay rights up until they thought they could get the brass ring of the White House. Now? Federal Law must be used to stop Teh Ghays.

The constitution isn't a perfect document. That's why we've had amendments to it. We, as a country, have grown and changed. We will never go back to that non-existant Reagan wet-dream past where Coke was a nickel and those uppity minorities could be beaten or ignored.

Take a look, you knuckle dragging neanderthals. This battle is not going to go your way. So why are you spending SO MUCH time, money and effort dragging this out and making everyone's lives miserable?

A victim of our own success.

It didn't take long for the mentally challenged among us to start with the "If Osama is really dead, where's the PROOF?" chorus.

Really? The president of the US of A tells you we killed him. We have pictures and do a DNA test. But despite the fact that faking or lying about something like this would be monumentally stupid the question remains.Where's the proof?

But lets hold on a second here. Maybe these idiots are on to something. They are doubting their leaders. They are doubting the mass media. They are asking questions. And while they are doing it for all the wrong reasons they are showing signs of rudimentary skepticism. A skepticism we really could have used, say, 10 years ago.

Back then, we took the government at their word. We took political leaders at their word. Not about everything, they were still politicians. But in matters of national security and the act of going to war, well, that's some serious shit. You don't fuck around with that kind of thing. You get your smartest people together and think real hard before pulling the trigger, so to speak.

But we didn't do that. Did we? We somehow associated Bin Laden with Iraq and then ignored reality and all kinds of experts by making Saddam Husein a nuclear armed super genius with his finger literally on the button. We went to war and then brought in morons to oversee reconstruction. We poured billions of dollars and thousands of lives into that pit.

We declared war on a concept.  We passed the patriot act. We created the TSA. We did these things to help us be safe. We did these things because we were told it was necessary. Then the cracks started to show. Were there WMD's in Iraq? Yes! (No) Did the phone companies pass info to the government without warrants? NO (Yes). Did the Bush admin out a CIA agent? No! (Yes)  Are the prisoners at Gitmo being tortured? NO! (Yes), Did we get good intel? Yes! (No)  Were the prisoners at Abu Garaib tortured? No! (Yes) Are there secret CIA black sites where rendition victims are taken and tortured? NO!! (Yes).

Are you seeing a pattern here? The fact is we were misled or outright lied to about some pretty huge things over the past 10 years. By our leaders and by our government. And that may have finally trickled down to the unwashed masses.  Maybe that's why some people question Obama's birth certificate. And maybe that's why there's a cry for graphic proof of Osama's death. Because we simply can't trust the people we put in charge to tell us the truth. Even on simple things like "This guy is dead".

And that is a sad state of affairs.

It's the story...

There's an old saying in the newspaper business, its the story people remember, never the retraction, or correction. Last week some nutjob went on the radio and said "I've spoken to the Governor of Hawaii, and he said there is no birth certificate for Obama".

Except he didn't. 

He's sorry he misspoke. But that's not the important thing here. This is the kind of shit we are seeing more and more of from the Right. They will say outright lies with conviction. They will ignore facts, twist statistics make insane connections and suppositions. And when someone calls them on their bullshit they might MIGHT mumble something about "maybe you misunderstood what we were saying".  It's tiresome.

The results are terrifying...

Less than 6 hours ago Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was assassinated at a small gathering outside of a supermarket by a young man named Jared Lee Loughner.  She is alive but in critical condition. A Federal judge and a child are dead. 11 or so are badly wounded.

 The man was arrested on the scene and now the All Seeing Eye of the Internet has begun its search. But despite the absence of any kind of facts or credible information the mouth of the internet has opened wide and started screaming. The mouth of the Internet is a shrill unthinking scream. Blog posts and twitter comments fly fast and hard, fingers are pointed and blame quickly placed. Gifford's district was one that Sarah Palin "targeted" with words and cross hair images during the last election. People have somehow taken this term to mean that Palin was inciting people to violence with irresponsible rhetoric. This, in my opinion is pretty goddamn stupid. I hate Palin but I cannot pin this act on her.

The Left called him a Rightwing Nutjob and The Right calls him a Leftwing communist/athiest. He posted an obtuse youtube video which makes no sense. Why? Because this man is crazy.

Let me clarify this. He isn't in the Democratic Party, or the Republican Part or the Tea Party. He is a card carrying member of the CRAZY PARTY.  A SANE person doesn't walk up and shoot someone in the head at almost point blank range then fire off 15 more rounds randomly. When tackled and restrained he did not scream out his political ideology. He wasn't wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt.  I'm sure he had some political leanings. They don't really matter. Because he is crazy. 

Of course, politics does play a part in this tragedy. Apparently a few months ago Arizona passed a law that said you didn't need a background check or have to take a class to carry a concealed weapon. I respect my gun owning friends and their constitutional rights but I cannot see how something like a background check for mental illness or a criminal record and a safety class is in some way seriously impinging on your rights. I know that criminals can get guns easy enough, those precautions aren't for them. 

This is a tragedy all the way around. I'm gonna go look at some pictures of bunnies and hope it helps. 

Why is this even an issue?

There has been so much wringing of hands about the possible repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".  So much fear. So much crazy. Why, I ask you? Why is this an issue? The younger generation (the ones who, you know actually serve in uniform) no longer fear and hate gays the way many of our parents generation did. They're over it. They already work with gays in the service, and their opinion is as long as they do their job and act professionally, they have no problem with gays serving. But policy lags behind society and we've lost valuable service-members from understaffed positions because some small group of people are, get this... afraid of taking a shower with a gay person.

Really. That seems to be the big fucking stumbling block. If you don't believe me, feel free to read the complete report that was just released on the subject. Yes, it's about 267 pages, but the readable portion is about 131 pages (the rest being the appendices).  Or you can just read the Executive Summary at the beginning. Long story short. The biggest fear is getting hit on by some gay guy in the shower. Which is weird, because, as a straight person, I have no interest in hitting on gay men in the shower. The other fear is that openly gay members will act like prancing fairies.Really? The rest of the report basically says that having gays won't destroy the military. Look, the Military can handle it. They're tough. They are trained to follow orders. Other countries have already done it. It did not destroy unit cohesion nor did it affect retention. There are already rules of conduct in place. Letting gays serve won't turn Camp Lejune into a gay pride parade.

And yet somehow we will manage to make this a HUGE fucking fight. Thanks to the media echo chamber it will seem as if this issue is tearing this country apart. Conservatives will bloviate ad nausium to appease their Bible grasping constituents even though they themselves likely don't give a crap or would rather be snorting cocaine of a 19 year olds steely abs. More theater, more spectacle. We will take what is basically a non-issue and make it an issue.

My fear is that we will somehow royally fuck this up. That in the interest of compromise we'll do something mind numbingly stupid like allowing gays and lesbians into the service, but just not have them serve in active fighting units. Like women.  If the recommendations of this committee could be enacted by executive order I'd say go for it. Yes, people would hate Obama for it. People already hate him for helping them get more affordable health care, enacting mild financial reform and helping keep the country from sliding into a depression. Just add it to the list.

So you want to see my junk?

My reply? Sure, whatever.

It seems that the blogosphere is getting its collective panties in a bunch about the new "porno scanners" and enhanced pat downs at airports. People are pissed that a flunkie in some room will see a crappy blueish image of their bodies. Including their junk.  This is an outrage!

So far as these scanners are concerned my concerns are a bit more practical. A) Are they safe? B) Do they work?

There have been some studies that indicate these scanners could potentially damage DNA or cause cancer. Unzipping my DNA concerns me. But no one has done any significant studies yet. The x-ray ones seem to be as safe as, well, getting an x-ray. You get a shitload more radiation getting a CAT scan and we seem happy about getting those. At this time I'm not freaked about getting cancer from getting scanned 3-4 times a year. Your mileage may vary.

Do they work? I suppose so. It can see guns and knives. These are, of course, things that wouldn't work in a hijacking anyway. Not these days. Can they detect explosive powders? Evidence suggests they can't. Could they detect an explosive device crammed in your ass? In short - ew. Also, NO, they can't. Well, I'm glad Michael Chertoff is getting paid well for the billions we are spending for deploying these useless machines.

Soooo, not super useful. What about the fact that the machines might store the images? So what? Calling these things porno scanners is a bit over the top. Have you seen the images these things produce? You have to have a pretty specific fetish to ignore the internet and use this to get your rocks off. Would I feel violated or embarrassed by someone seeing my scan? Personally? Not really. I was in theater for years where doing costume changes was common. I know exactly how big my penis is. Others might not share my opinion, we are after all a country founded by a bunch of super conservative crazies (the Puritans) and sometimes that crazy comes out at strange times.

So far as the pat downs are concerned, I haven't had one in the US yet. But I've been hit up by pretty thorough pat downs in Egypt,Turkey, Israel and Poland. No one fondled my junk. It was professional. I'll have to reserve my judgement about our version until after my next trip.  There are reports of TSA agents acting like jackasses. That shit I am ALL over. Acting like an asshat weather you are TSA or you flip burgers should not be tolerated. Period. Let the lawsuits and criminal charges flow.

 But what truly angers me is that America has just now decided that enough is enough. Both the tea party activists and the civil libertarians have both somehow JUST gotten to outraged. Really? And THIS is what you are pissed about? The Iraq war, Guantanimo, criminal banks, warrantless wiretaps, CIA black sites and torture THAT shit was just bad. But now that someone might actually take a blurry picture of your junk or brush against your breasts you are screaming foul?

I know, its the principal of the thing. The erosion of rights. These are things that should be fought for certainly. But a full body scan and a pat down do not a police state make. There are more pressing issues out there.  The methods the TSA are using to try and prevent terrorist attacks are at their very core deeply flawed. We are focusing on all the wrong shit.  I'm having flashbacks to High School. This was during the Reagan years. Iran Contra. Apartheid. Nuclear tensions with the U.S.S.R. Serious shit. But you know what got the student body truly motivated? What make them take up arms against "The Man?" The school banned a kind of Popsicle called the Guido. That turned our placid suburban institution into a hotbed of civil rights activism. Seriously. There were protests, petitions, posters and civil disobedience. It was insane. And I'm starting to feel that way again.

Dear Mr. Wampler...Fuck you.

Take a moment to read this article. I'll wait here, it won't take long.

Finished? Great. Now allow me to state my rebuttal. Fuck you.

That's the short version. And it sums up my feelings on his article pretty well. I understand that you are employed as a "comedy examiner", whatever the hell that means, but really? This is your attempt at funny? I am dissapoint.

I would have thought that here in the 21st century we'd gotten past the same pathetic stereotypes of people who go to Sci-Fi or Comic conventions. Do you not understand that sci-fi, fantasy and gaming are now the fucking NORM? Have look here. See that list of top grossing films from the last decade? 9 out of 10 of them are Sci-Fi, Fantasy or comic derived. Its 10 out of 10 if you consider The Passion of the Christ a kind of snuff film based on a fictional jewish wizard. That's pretty fucking mainstream pal.

Apparently the game Magic the Gathering is to him, hopelessly nerdy and pathetic, played by pimply teens incapable of interacting with the female sex. Really? I do a lot of cons. You know what I see? People with kids. "How did they get those kids?" you ask. By having sex you moron. Lots of sex. Sometimes with women like these who share their love of Trek or Star Wars or Harry Potter or B5 or D&D or even Magic the Gathering. How are two people playing a fantasy based card game different from a group of people playing poker? Answer: There is no difference.

Of course, he pokes at a fat girl in a costume. Awesome. Do I even need to spend a paragraph describing what kind of a dick does that? I've seen people wear costumes waaaaaaaay not right for their body type. But you know what? I respect each and every goddamn one of them. I admire their creativity. Their bravery.

Speaking of bravery. If you spoke to some people at a con you might be surprised to find out some are active duty or veterans of our armed forces. These guys don't just pretend to be warriors with pen, paper and dice. They actually go to fucking WAR for you, me and our country. When you look around a con I'm sure you'll see some fat ass in a scooter who needs a diet and exercise, you'll also see guys without legs or arms like I did last year. "Nerds" and "Geeks" tend to be idealists. While we play in fantasy worlds we fully understand the problems of the real one. Many cons hold blood drives and auctions for charities or libraries. Many years ago I was honored to present a check to a Cleveland battered womens shelter from the Star Trek fan-club I belonged to. I proudly did it in uniform (Wrath of Khan, not the Next Gen spandex ones, I know what looks good on me).

So, on behalf of myself and and a large portion of the general public may I suggest that you shut your fucking pie hole you unoriginal hack. If this isn't your thing, fine. Don't come to cons and  I won't follow you to a pro sports game and ask you why you are paying an absurd amount of money to watch men hit a ball with a stick, or try to put a ball in a hoop, or move a ball from one side of a field to another. Because honestly? That seems like the stupidest thing on Gods green Earth.

We have become a nation of liars

Remember how Donald Rumsfeld said we would pay victims of Abu Graib? Well, we didn't. Not that we can find at least. 

I swear that clusterfuck just keeps on giving. Not long ago it was reported that there were some fairly horrific pics of detainee abuse that were so bad, they were just never going to be released. Period. Our government cannot actually be sued for some of this, but we used a crapload of civilian contractors and they CAN be sued if the Supreme Court says so. And thats what it might take to get some movement on this.

Actions have consequences. It's impossible to put a dollar amount on how badly our reputation was damaged by this BS. After all, we're supposed to be the good guys. And in case you thought this shit was over, Bagram airbase in Afghanistan is pretty much the same thing as Abu Graib, only we aren't closing it.

Reaching the Fuck It stage.

It occurs to me that I have been doing....whatever it is I have been doing for quite a while now. I won't say I'm just a Rennie, or just a salesman. I am, I guess some kind of strange hybrid. I'm okay with that. More people than you think fall outside the traditional job definition box. The point being I can look back now on a number of years at working at assorted Ren Faires, Sci-Fi conventions, fetish shows, celtic doo-dah's, SCA shindigs and what have you.

I have done the job because its been a pretty fun job as jobs go. I'd never deny that. But with the passage of time comes the inevitable bullshit that comes to pollute whatever it is that one does for fun and/or profit. They aren't huge things. Well sometimes they are. But mostly they are a thousand paper cuts that slowly bleed away your joy and enthusiasm. Maybe two years ago, while unloading the van after some mediocre show or other in the blistering sun I looked at my wife and asked "Have we reached the 'fuck it" stage yet?".


She looked at me for a moment, thinking. Then she looked around at the tubs of stock, the mannequins, the tents, tables, rolls of fabric and dozens of boxed of heavy crap that  is required for us to do what we do and sighed. "No, not yet.".

And thus was born both a quirky ritual and an honest gauge of things. Time is ever fleeting. Someday I know I'll likely give up what I do for one reason or other. There is no set date for this. It might be thirty years from now, or it might be tomorrow.  Until recently, that second possibility had never even entered my mind. But it has. I'm just being realistic here.

But I didn't think I'd reach an actual "fuck it" stage. Not for a while at least. But I did last weekend.  We arrived at Michigan Ren and set up. As always, people come, people go. It's the nature of the business. But right off the bat I could feel things had changed, and not for the better. For instance, the bakery across from out booth was empty.

It turns out the festival, smelling money, jacked up the rent astronomically and demanded a hefty share of their profits. The bakery pulled out, leaving the space empty, until this weekend when the festival brought in a cooler and started selling about 60% of what bakery used to. The festival has a right to do this. It's their show. But really?  These guys had been there forever. They were friendly and they actually baked things there.

I haven't bought anything from the 'new' bakery. No small feat considering my sweet tooth. But the move seemed just dickish.

Fiona's Fineries moved into a shop not far away. They now carry corsets. Of course. I was told for years that I couldn't expand beyond 1 shirt and 1 skirt  design because the show "had too many clothing shops".  Over the past five years four other clothing shops started carrying corsets of varying quality. I complained. I got blown off.

The festival opened a new area in the back of the festival. It's been given several unflattering nicknames. Here, local "artists" bring in modern pop up tents and with 1 or 2 exceptions sell pretty much whatever crap they want. It looks pretty low rent over there.

I wandered around, getting angrier and angrier. I followed the rules. I did what they asked and played fair.  What did I get for that? Nothing. Last year when I showed the craft coordinator our new feather bras (after carefully submitting written updates to our list of approved sellable items) she nodded and said "they look great, of course next year five or six people will be selling 'em here." What the fuck? The reason you HAVE craft directors is to make sure Ren Faires don't turn into crap filled flea markets or have gluts in one thing or another.  I'm not going to drop multiple thousands of dollars of a booth for my product if there are going to be 5 other people selling the same thing.

But this year, the craft coordinator has retired and I realized the festival seems keen only to fill empty booths. And then I felt a kind of snap in the middle of my chest. And suddenly I felt lighter. Free. I realized that I had ACTUALLY reached the "fuck it" stage. Michigan Ren didn't care about the quality of the food being served to their customers, they just wanted all the bakery's action. No one was looking out to make sure crap wasn't flowing in. No one was trying to keep any kind of balance. And if they didn't give a fuck, why should I?

So last weekend I brought more shirts to the show, more skirts. I pulled out the scarves I personally brought back from Istanbul. I pulled out some dresses I only carry at conventions. Hell I brought out my own steampunk goggles.  We're in the middle on the worse economy since the depression and here I am tying my own arm behind my back. Fuck that.

Maybe someone will come in and start getting a grip on all this. I'd be happy with that. Maybe they won't. It doesn't really matter to me anymore. And that feeling is actually quite liberating. Rather than agonizing over things I cannot change I can focus on just doing my job, which is separating you from large sums of money in exchange for things that give you great joy.

The Fuck It stage feel pretty good at the moment.
.

Thanks...you dick.

Apparently Levi Johnston is going to run for public office. That's, right, this uneducated jiz dispenser has decided to run for Mayor...of Wasilla Alaska. I'd like to take a moment to say to Mr. Johnston - fuck you.

I  have to confess that I don't know the young man personally. I haven't kept up much on his exploits. Apparently he posed for playgirl, but I don't believe that should restrict you from running for office. Sure, it looks like he sold off the rights to the "big wedding announcement" before it was revealed that he may have fathered a baby with some other chick. But that's pretty much par for the course with this group isn't it?

These shenanigans don't perturb me. What I am upset with is that  this douchenozzle isn't running for mayor for any other reason than it's part of a new reality tv show. Goddammitsomuch....

Look, there are many reasons to run for public office. Selflessness, concern for ones community, aspiration for higher office, even plain old fashioned greed and a lust for power. I can accept all of these. But I will not accept a high school drop out attention-whore who cannot keep it in his pants vying for public office for the sole reason of trying to extend his 15 minuted of undeserved fame with yet more vomit inducing "reality tv". It's not supposed to work that way. It shits of the very fabric of our political system.

But crazy is in this year. Look at the Tea Party. Listen to the frothing crazy that is coming out of their mouths. It wouldn't surprise me if this comes to pass. And thanks to the massive exposure this show would generate, he could very well win. The last mayor won in a run-off election with something like 450 votes. Awesome. We are doing a great job of showing the world the we don't deserve the system of government everyone else dreams of.

Why I DON'T want a Mosque near ground zero.

Your read that right. While having an animated discussion at Pennsic I dropped that bombshell and things got quiet pretty fast. The people at the table, who were of differing opinions on the matter were both surprised that I would say such a thing. I am generally known as a free thinker with Liberal tendencies and such a proclamation raised eyebrows. But I said it and I stand by my personal opinion.

Make no mistake. The group involved here has every legal right to build their community center (which happens to have a Gym, an auditorium as well as a mosque). I do not contend that. When the project first came to the attention of our semi-retarded media the initial conservative backlash was immediate. The frothing rhetoric spoke of bans and interceding to stop such a travesty until it was pointed out that forbidding such a building flew in the face of the first amendment. After that the right-wing modified their bleating to state that while they could build the center, they shouldn't. It empowered fundamentalists. The Imam is a radical (a radical Bush himself appointed as a kind of good will ambassador, but whatever) The area is "Hallowed Ground", whatever that means. And  most importantly; It would hurt the feelings of some of the victims. The last one is a strong possibility. It's a sensitive and emotional issue certainly.  But that isn't why I don't support the project.

I am against this project because they are building a Mosque. I do not hate Mosques, or Muslims. I have stood in several beautiful Mosques in several countries. I think the Muezzins call to prayer is a delight to listen to as it echoes over the city. I count several Muslims as friends.

What I am against is the construction of another house of worship. A place where people go to listen to "Holy Men" tell them untruths about the origin of the world and mans place in it. Buildings where the social morays of a bronze age society of violent nomads are held up as unassailable, unquestionable law. A place where poorly translated gibberish is declared historical fact and the infallible word of violent, psychotic gods. A place where bigoted, xenophobic ramblings are declared unshakable moral codes for all to slavishly follow or risk eternal damnation.

It's not that I don't want a Mosque built near ground zero, I don't want ANY "holy" building built there. Not a church, or a synagogue or a Cathedral or a Scientology Center. Do you know what I'd like? A library. A place where anyone came freely enter without restriction or discrimination. A place where the guides help you to find answers without judgement or charging a tithe. A place where all questions are allowed. A place that has many answers but does not claim to have ALL the answers.

 Or a book store. I'd be fine with a book store. How about a gym? Or a small garden? Anything but another place that turns out more groveling believers. According to a quick search there may be as many as 6507 houses of worship in NYC compared with about 860 libraries. Do we really need more churches?

The other boogeyman in the debate is the fear of what all "those people" will be up to "in there". Surely no good! I very much doubt that this mosque will be turning out radical wahhabists. In fact, I suspect that it will be the most well surveiled mosque in the entire US. Everything in that building will come under close scrutiny. Every email, every sermon, every phone call. There won't be a single prayer session where there aren't at least 4 or 5 undercover agents blending in with the group. It would be the single stupidest place in the world to start talking jihad.

Alas, no one is listening to me. Both sides are too busy screaming at each other. In the end, I suspect the community center will be built. And I am okay with that. Even though every Sept 11th I tend to crack at some point in my day. I'll be in the car or maybe at a show and I'll loose it for a short time. I pull over or find someplace quiet and break down for a bit. Some things haunt you. But I pull it together, and I've never let it control me. Never let it close my head or my heart.

This Mosque will likely impart the positive values shared by the majority of Muslims around the world. Just as most other houses or worship do. But it's still pushing religion. The belief in an all powerful invisible sky wizard.

If I have any faith it is that I truly believe we can solve many of our worlds problems ourselves. Without supernatural aid or distraction.That we can let go of the crutch of superstition. My greatest fear is that I and my beliefs are in the minority.

Survey...

If you have a few moments, you might want to check out the Christian Modesty Survey.  I don't think you should fill it out. The entire concept is fairly insane. They aren't telling you what to wear. They're just letting you know what things will most likely get you raped. The people who created this survey seem to see no irony in claiming they "Don't want you to wear a Burqa" (nice jab at Islam there) while the woman on the homepage has a veil over her lower face.

On a practical note. One point says you should "Dress for the Glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31) What the frack is that supposed to mean??? The actual quote they reference is: "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."


Got that? 

Saying goodbye...

Yesterday I said goodbye to a great man. His name was Jack Ellis. At age 16 my mom was divorced and working very hard. My brother lived with my Dad in Olympia Washington. While I was not what you would call a juvenile delinquent I was failing to meet what school councilors would call "my full potential".

Then I was introduced to Jack and the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. In his 60's at the time Jack had already had 5 other little brothers who he had mentored. At that age Jack wasn't like a big brother or even a father figure. Instead he was like the grandfather I never had. It would take 10 pages for me to recount all the things I learned from him both directly and indirectly. If I am a good person today, it is in part because of his guidance.

In his last few months he was eager to go. He didn't want to hang around, dying by inches."I've had a great life, not one complaint!" he said. He got his wish, passing in his sleep.

I was surprised at the turn out at Old Stone Church. People Jack's age have already said goodbye to many friends and family. But the aisles were full of people, old and young. The little brothers were there. But also cousins, friends, neighbors. The pastor knew Jack, even though Jack hadn't been able to come to the church in years. Jack had called him up to welcome him when he got the job 2 years ago. When he decided to visit Jack at his apartment downtown he knocked "C'mon in! It's unlocked!" and it was. It always was.

Gary Klesh gave the eulogy. Gary is now a billionaire. But in his teens he lost his parents and was living out of his car when Jack gave him a big hand. He got Gary a place to stay and helped him pay his tuition and bills so he could stay in college. Gary flew himself and his entire family to Cleveland from Europe. He said of Jack "I have known Presidents, Kings, Princes, Prime Ministers and Oligarchs. I place Jack head and shoulders above them all". I couldn't agree with him more.

I thought I'd be alright, that I could handle the memorial. But by the time the bagpiper played "Amazing Grace" I was a wreck. At first I couldn't figure out why. After all, Jack had a great, full life. I guess it's because the world really needs more guys like Jack.

After the service I got to reconnect with some of the other little brothers as well as some of the people who's lives had been touched by Jack. That helped me pull it together a lot. We swapped stories and laughed.

Eventually I had to get on the road. I had to get back to work. I didn't want to. This season hasn't been exactly awesome. All manner of BS and obstacles have been put in our path this year. But as I left the Church I remembered two things about Jack that stood out. The first is that I never saw him angry. Ever. The second is that he saw every experience, both good and bad, as a learning opportunity. "It's all part of your education" was his mantra.

I'll miss ya Jack. I really will.

Anger...rising...

I just finished watching a trainwreck called "Chasing Mummies". It is supposed to be a full spectrum documentary following Zahi Hawass, three interns and a camera crew as they solve the mysteries of blah blah blah...it doesn't matter what they say its all bullshit.

Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush here. This show was terrible on every level. It angered me. I have a headache from watching this travesty.  The biggest problem is that it isn't a documentary. It's a "reality" show. That should set off some alarms. Egypt is just a set piece and a theme.  The show is about Zahi, the head honcho of the Supreme Council of Antiquities who for some reason is channeling Simon Cowell from American Idol. I've spoken with Egyptologists and archeologists and they politely dance around the fact that he has a rep as a prima donna. and a petty tyrant. This show isn't going to help that image. Zahi yells at everyone. He browbeats the 3 interns (who don't even warrant last names) and everyone else. I'm sure some of this is for the cameras. But it's annoying as hell. This guy is supposed to represent the best of the best. He's the guy in charge of EVERYTHING and he's acting like a dick. A dick that loves Egypt, but a dick.

Where do I start? At two points "Derek" blurts out that the pyramids must have been built by aliens. He is yelled at for this by Zahi, as well he should be. No student of Egyptology would EVER say something so god-damned stupid. Who is this idiot? Why is he being given the chance of a lifetime to visit an area of the pyramid off limits to everyone? Where the fuck did they find these interns? There are real students who would give their left nut to work dig sites in Egypt.

Later, the group explores the upper 5 chambers inside the great  pyramids of Khufu. One of the interns, unable to hold her bladder, wets herself and goes on a crying jag. Ok, it takes several hours to work your way up through these 5 chambers. It's hot, cramped and humid.  I accept than an accident might occur. But if you're going to be trapped in an enclosed space for 8 hours you might want to PEE FIRST. Why didn't she climb down  to the Grand Gallery and find something to pee in there? Think! Have someone pass up a tshirt or a plastic bag. Hell, I would wear depends if there was even a chance of this happening. Was this just a "bit" for the show? I don't know, but it doesn't matter because everyone looked like an idiot for letting it happen.

At one point a cameraman hurts his back For some reason the fat producer/narrator is called into the pyramid. We watch as he hauls his fat, sweaty carcass up through the chambers, only to freak out, fumble back down to the grand gallery and collapse, receiving oxygen as he recounts he harrowing tale. What happened to the cameraman? Who knows, he isn't mentioned.

And why exactly is Zahi going into this area? Supposedly to show the interns crude graffiti that demonstrates that the builders of the pyramids were well organized gangs and not slaves. But this graffiti has already been documented. Here's a quick google search. At one point Zahi, sweating profusely, takes humidity readings. He explains how he closed the pyramid for a year because of high humidity. So why in gods name is he dragging 20 people, along with cameras into this sensitive, enclosed environment??? At this point in the show Rossana and I were actually yelling at the TV. I can imagine archeologists around the world throwing heavy objects at their tv's in anger and frustration.

I pray that this travesty gets shut down quick. It hurts to watch. It is an insult to those who work so hard in the field.  Egypt is interesting enough without the bullshit of "reality tv" crapping all over it.

It's not the crime that gets you #2

Apparently a documentary is coming out about the death of Pat Tillman. This has somehow angered some conservatives though I am not sure exactly why. The comments after the post seem to paint the issue as one of liberals hating the military, or Bush, or America. There's a lotta hate, all over a trailer. I mean, they haven't seen the film yet.

Of course, its very hard to separate the tragedy of Tillman's death from politics. Tillman was the All American Boy who gave up millions playing football to serve his country. He was killed in Afghanistan by "friendly fire".  And that should have been that. Fratricide is a fact of war. A very tragic fact, but one that impossible to prevent. The best possible course would have been to find out what happened and to work to make sure such a thing doesn't happen again. But America loves a hero. And the  Global War On Terror was an unpopular one. So someone, somewhere made the choice to change the story. This may have been an innocent mistake at first. Someone in PR at the Pentagon sees that Tillman, the poster boy for American Patriotism has been killed in action. He's young, handsome and sacrificed a lucrative career. You want to praise this sacrifice. But the truth was known very shortly after the event, and for some reason no one put their foot down and said "The truth is, it was fratricide." People in the military and civilian administration knew he did not die in a heroic battle, but they told America and his family a lie anyway.

Things snowballed until the President of the United States is speaking at his funeral. As much as I hate to say it I don't believe I can blame Bush for wanting to honor Tillman. I don't think he was personally aware of the cover up. The military is at fault. But there can be no doubt that people in the Bush administration pressured the Military into keeping the details of Tillman's death secret. Evidence was destroyed. People were told their careers were at stake if they spoke out. This is a cover up.

So how is making a documentary about Tillman's family fighting to find out the truth a jab at America, or part of some vast leftist agenda? Can't the search for the truth be a worthwhile cause? Even if the facts paint a story of a tragic set of mistakes? Should the family have just shut up and accepted the fabrication of a heroic death? Are they somehow unpatriotic for wanting to know the truth or being angry at being lied to?

To me, Pat Tillman (and Jesica Lynch) is still a hero. As are all of the thousands of troops who continue to fight a war in a country that no one has ever won a war in. We have an all volunteer military. These aren't conscripts. The son of a friend of mine is redeploying to Afghanistan soon where things are currently on a downturn. Should (god forbid) anything happen to him I have no doubt his parents would demand an accurate explanation of what happened and god help anyone who dares lie to them.

I know that America loves a hero. But it doesn't need to lie about the brave men and women who serve to get them. They should not be showpieces or political props. Tell us the truth. We're adults, we can take it.

Why science matters.

I don't have kids, but you might. You might care about things like 'facts' and 'science'. If you do I beg you to have a quick look at this series of cartoons that explain the anti-vaccine Dr. Wakefield and why he is is so very wrong about vaccines and how he is quite possibly a criminal.

There's always a down side.

I took the plunge and bought an iPad. I talked myself into the expense by telling myself it will be able to be a second credit card machine using the cool new square device. But there can be no doubt that I was tempted by the promise of a device I've been dreaming about for a loooong time. Something like 6 years ago there was a neat little tablet device called the eePc. It was WinCE powered. I was able to install and read Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 days" on it. I've kept track of sales at shoes using simelar WinCE devices for years. I knew back then that a tablet PC was a viable product.  Netbooks are good but they still aren't a great surfing device despite the better battery life.

 So now I have the iPad and it is very good. Quick boot or instant on with amazing battery life. Stunning screen. Apps that work to remove the need for a mouse and a virtual keyboard that is actually very easy to use. So what's the down side? It has nothing to do with the device and everything to do with where it comes from. Shenzen China and a company called FoxConn. They make lots of electronics, including my iPad. So it sucks to read about the work conditions at the factory, where there have been 7 suicides this year.

FoxConn has now hired almost 100 Councillors and even brought in Buddhist monks to drive evil spirits out of the machines. Really? Evil spirits? Maybe it has nothing to do with spirits and everything to do with the absurd hours these kids are working. The lack of social contact. The depression of living in a kind of indentured servitude.  The factories are bright and clean. The employees aren't chained to the assembly line. They are free to leave...but to do what?

I don't have any real answers. I like my shiny toy, but I don't want someone to work themselves to death for it. I could wait an extra week or two if it let them slow down. I'd happily pay a little more if it went to the line workers. But the wheels of capitalism must turn and nothing can get in their way.

I don't feel good...

The recent events concerning pedophile priests had given me pause. Haven't we been here before? Indeed we have. Hundreds of children abused in the US. A massive scandal. Millions in fines against the Church. And then things died down.

Then came the report about the workhouses in Ireland, more pedophiles come to light, then the Ferns Report, revelations about a secret document used to suppress accusers under threat of excommunication, more child abusers in Germany and now the revelation that the man who was supposed to oversee and handle this kind of thing is none other than former Cardinal Ratzinger aka The Pope.

The accusations are coming fast and hard now and the media smell blood in the water. The church is of course, trying to cover this up. Issuing denials and carefully worded statements and apologies. Fall guys are taking the blame. It's starting to sound very familiar. You might not be old enough to have experienced it first hand, I was only a child, but things are starting to play out like Watergate. And as Nixon observed, "it's not the crime that gets you, it's the cover up"

Ratzinger will have a very hard time squirming out of this because (by papal decree) ALL abuse cases are supposed to be handled by the Vatican and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (a very pretty name for what historically has been called The Inquisition). He was supposed to be the TOP man. I'm sure the office was responsible for many different tasks, but surely child rape and abuse cases were a high priority. Right? Right?

Then I watched this short documentary:

aaaaaaaaand, now I'm pissed. Very pissed. I like to think that I am fairly even handed. I believe firmly that there are almost always two sides to every story. I like to play the (no pun intended) Devils Advocate. Despite my distaste of organized religion I accept and admit that it can have a positive affect of many peoples lives. And when you consider that there may be somewhere around 50 million children worldwide who are being raised as Catholics it may be inevitable that some of the hundreds of thousands of priests would be pedophiles. Any group with these numbers would likely have this problem. But it's how the Church handles the problem that really gets me.

Despite the recent events the Church continues to plod along like it's the 12th century. It is an entity unto itself. Beholden to no one. It ignores secular laws. It pays hush money. And worse, it continues the same behavior of shifting priests around, blocking police inquiries and above all failing to help the victims.

By the way, did you know that when a diocese pays off sexual abuse victims millions of dollars not one cent of it comes from the Vatican? Nope. They're like McDonald's franchises. So the money comes from the diocese and that money comes from parishioners. Tadaa! Members of the flock pay to have their children raped.

I don't want to pick on the Catholic Church, but it's a top-down organization and it's very large and it KNOWS what the fuck is going on. The Pope could change how the church deals with pedophiles tomorrow. It could initiate sweeping change. But it won't.

It will pray for the victims. Sure. Fat lot that will do. But but it won't change. Why? Because at it's very core, at it's very heart it believes that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.

The thing that might force change (whether the Church wants it or not) is that there is very little secrecy anymore. For good or ill we are very much a confession culture these days. What used to remain a deep secret is now shared much more easily. People no longer believe that such atrocities are impossible. And now the media and lawyers want a piece of the pie. Good luck keeping them at bay Mr. Ratzinger.

Another dark confession

As a pretty ironclad rule, I do not give a flying fuck about celebrities or gossip. But I cannot help but watch the slow motion train wreck that is the life of Jessie James.

Jesse is a high end chopper builder out in California. Discovery did a few shows on him, kicking off the whole absurd chopper craze. This led to his show "Monster Garage" where teams of fabricators had a week to build some bizarre contraption like a hearse/backhoe or a Delorian hovercraft. I liked the show because it required that people think, design and create under a deadline. Yes, there was some drama, but that was second to the project. Now most shows are all about the drama. They can't get enough of people doing stupid things and screaming at each other like harpies.

Time passes,the show is over and I don't hear much about Jesse until I learn that he married Sandra Bullock. Ok, that seems a little weird. But opposites sometimes attract. And it's not as if she can't know that he's been married before and screwed that up.

Flash forward to the academy awards and Mrs. Bullock gets the Oscar for a film I didn't see. Good for her. I've liked some of her work. She doesn't seem to have gone off the rails like some people in Hollywood do.

Then the big shocker, Jesse had an affair with another woman. A heavily tattooed fetish model. Wow. Well, looking at her she seems to have some common interests with Jesse. Then it turned out that she might be a white supremacist. (The jury is still out on that). Oooooookay. You cheat on your beautiful and supportive wife with a woman who seems to have some issues to put it mildly.

But all is not lost. Many couples have worked through this kind of thing before. Hillary forgave Bill right? Maybe she bangs the pool guy to even things up. Or counselling. Whatever. Then another heavily tattooed stripper arrives on the scene. "I've been sleeping with him for two years!" she proudly crows as soon as the check clears. Dude, this is not helping.

But wait, there's now a THIRD woman who says she's been banging him (although she doesn't seem to have any tattoos so I'm not sure she can be trusted, (except for all the text messages she has as proof).

Okay, at this point I don't think you have much of a chance to fix things Jesse. One might wonder why Sandra didn't notice her husband cheating with enough woman to make up a rugby team. But Hollywood is a strange place where the laws of time and space do not apply. Celebrities are constantly doing interviews, travelling to promote themselves, doing 'deals', taking meetings and occasionally... working. So I'll give her some slack. They are busy people.

The fault here lies with Jesse, and he knows it. He doesn't seem like a bad guy really. He opened an environmentally friendly burger joint (whatever that means) does community work and his employees seem to like him. But he is a fuck up with regards to the institution of marriage. Why on Earth did he ever think it was a good idea to get married again? One of his wives tried to stab him while he was in the hospital. You have to be some special kind of dick to inspire that kind of crazy.

It might be that Sandra didn't want a casual relationship and insisted on marriage. At the exact moment she stated this he should have said "I understand your point of view, but I habitually cheat on women, I bid you good day" and walked out. Thus, denying the gossip magazines of millions of dollars of revenue and preventing me from feeling dirty every time I read some new sordid detail in this Greek tragedy.

Some people are fuckups. This doesn't mean they are totally evil or useless. Jesse makes some cool looking choppers. He likes women. Fine. Stick with your strengths and stay away from the whole marriage thing. The whole monogamy thing doesn't seem like your forte'. That's fine, the world does not think ill of men who have sex with several women. You should have stayed single. It would have saved Mrs. Bullock a lot of heartache and legal fees divorcing your ass.

Okay, I'm done.