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.

Calmer now.

Last week was some kind of blur. It seemed like EVERYTHING waited until the last second to fall into place. Supplies, stock, contractors, everything. Somehow it all managed to happen and get done. Not all of it was perfect. But I can live with it.  I had already reached a kind of numb zen state when word came of my fathers accident. I'm very glad he only broke his shoulder. I could handle that. Word also came that Jack Ellis, my Big Brother passes away. I was able to handle that too since he had a great life, wasn't in any pain and went in his sleep. I am SOOO glad of that.

I know worse will eventually come. I suspect I won't handle it well no matter what my age.

The rush starts Thursday. From that point on things get crazy. Lots of travel. Lots of work. Hopefully good sales. Despite all kinds of prep work I feel like I've been behind this entire season. I'm also sure I have forgotten at least one major THING. Something important no doubt.

I'm glad the party went well. It was good to see some friends and good off.

Zeus has been angered

I don't think anything needs to be said about this little incident.

What are 1 million mummies doing buried in the dessert?

That is a very good question.

Party!

Next Saturday is the big party. Working like a madman to get stuff done. Hope people shop up and have a good time.

Bundle of joy

"The Lawn, it's laughing at me." I said, looking out the window in a manner I hoped was reminiscent of Macarthur.

"What did you say dear?" my wife asked, not looking up from the sewing machine.

"Can't you hear it? Thousands of squeaky voiced blades of grass. They mock me. I must mow the lawn."

"Of course."

I went to put of work clothes and when I returned Rossana was glues to the window the way our cats are when birds stop at the feeder.

"Come here, quick!" she whispered.

I looked out the windows just in time to see a wobbly baby dear start to settle itself in a patch of low plants near the remains of our deck. In a moment, there was nothing visible but a pair of painted ears that swiveled around occasionally, scanning the area.

"It's adorable!" she searched the yard. "Where's the mama?"

"Off doing mother-dear things no doubt."

Her brow furrowed. "What is the baby wandered off and she can't find him?"

I could see that in the short time it had taken to put on pants two problems had suddenly manifested themselves.

"I can't mow today, can I? It might spook him. Or the mother." The grass was already abnormally high due to neglect.

"Should I call someone?" Rossana asked, looking worried.

Those of you who think that my wife does not possess maternal instincts due to her severe allergic reaction to human babies has never seen her around small furry animals. I could tell that she was ready to go the the store to get baby formula and knit it a sweater in case it was cold.

"We just have to leave it alone. It'll stay hunkered down until mom comes or dark. You can't go over there"

I have lived in Ohio most of my life and know something of the flora and fauna here. But I could tell my works were a kind of buzzing in my wife's ear.

"No touchy!" I said, firmer. She scowled at me.

I managed to mow some of the back 40, coming in for breaks now and then. The dear, whom I began to call 'junior' seemed happy to remain in the weeds. At one point the cats managed to wiggle their way out, causing alarm.  We got one back in quickly but Little One wandered off lite a 2 year old, staying just of of Rossana's reach until she finally grabbed her on top of the house.

When I finished up in the early evening Rossana emerged from her office and proceeded to tell me all about baby does and the associated do's and don'ts. The was consisted of all the things I had told her earlier but I nodded dutifully. Junior hung around until dark and was gone the next morning.

All was well until last week when I used the back door of the garage to get something from the shop. I opened the door and started through in the direct way I am know to walk and was met with the carefully folded bundle of junior right in the doorway. I flailed wildly trying to stop myself from tripping over him, smacking into the door, the frame and shelving units as the tyke also clumsily got up and made a break for the woods.

The second appearance prompted fresh concern from Rossana but I am happy to report that I saw mother and child today and I noted they looked just fine after I narrowly avoided hitting them with the lawnmower.

I'll take what I can get

Last weekend Rossana went off and did the Virginia Renfair solo while Lindsey and I went to Marcon. While Lindsey and I enjoyed an air conditioned hotel Rossana worked through 93 degree days. That is the kind of temperature that can KILL me. I literally stop thinking in that kind of heat. What's more, she kicked our asses on Saturday.  I started to feel like I'd lost my touch.

It's not like we were slacking off. I barely got out of the booth. Lots of interest but no buyers. It struck me that attendance was way down this year. There are several ways of telling. How crowded the bar is and how long you have to wait to get food in the food court are two fairly good indicators of attendance and they weren't good.

Compounding our suck was a lack of wifi in the dealers room. The hotel tried to extort $100 a DAY for it and I steadfastly refused. This meant doing a dance using my iphone to charge credit cards.

When Sunday hit things seemed to turn around for us. The biggest deal was the sale of Rossana's 'Courtesan' dress for $2,000. That sale felt great. In fact I was upbeat the rest of the day until load out (which meant going out into the heat). The sale of the dress helped our numbers. Without it Marcon would have been a fairly miserable show. I still love the con. They treat vendors great, helping with load in and giving us free pop and cookies. They also help with loadout. I just hope they can get attendance back up.

Oh, and I may have bought a death ray...

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.

What happens to disarmed nuclear weapons?

A short but cool article with a killer pic.

Scientific proof

Did you even notice that incompetent people always seem really confident? I have. Hell, look at the 8 years of Bush. That man was certain we was smart and doing all the right things. He and his cronies thought they couldn't possibly be cocking things up.  Well, there actually a term for that. It's called the Dunning-Kruger effect. Here is some science for you.

Look at this dog!

I love Star Trek

But I fear this monstrocity would go to places in my colon where no sausage has gone before.

We're off on the road to....

Are YOU looking for adventure? Do you like to travel to strange foreign lands to meet exotic people and eat sausages? They do I have a deal for you!.

This summer (June 30- July 12) Rossana and I are going to Poland. The tour looks absolutely fantastic. The company that runs it only takes 15 people so it's very personalized. Right now they are looking for 3-4 more people. If you are interested check out their PDF flyer or call Eryk (who runs the tour) at 603-563-8054

Honestly, this thing sounds great. At one point we'll be dressing up to attend a battle re-enactment near Warsaw followed by a Sarmatian feast! What do Sarmatians eat? I have no idea, but I'm keen to find out.

Who is hamad?

That's a good question. After all, he is carving his name into an island off the coast of Abu Dhabi in letters 500 meters long.

No really, he is. Why? Because he is filthy rich and a bit of an eccentric. You can check out his brief wikipedia entry here and a video of his unusual truck: