Memorial Day

In the Oregon State University Daily Barometer for 29 May 2008, columnist Dan Fitzpatrick complains that "the mainstream media has [sic] been paying less...attention to American...wars in the Middle East", and proposes to "provide a brief dedication" to recent Medal of Honor recipients.

Unfortunately, Fitzpatrick is unable to follow through on his lofty goals, and instead uses American heroes as cheap props in a feeble attempt to dress up the abject failures of his beloved President Bush, talking wishfully about "the success of last year's troop surge".

Let me tell you about honoring the service of brave and capable Americans in war, without regard for the politics and personalities which sent them off to war.

When I was serving in the United States Navy, I was stationed at a medical center which had been in continuous use for over a hundred years. Although most of the base was modern and up-to-date, there were a few reminders of older times, most notably a military cemetery behind the enlisted men's quarters. I walked past that cemetery almost every day, and frequently paused to read the stones and contemplate their meaning: "Unknown USN...Unknown CSN...LCpl. R. Jones, USMC...Ens. M. Richards, CSN...."

The stones were identical, and no effort was made to separate the Union from the Confederate dead. This in spite of the fact that, no matter what the Confederate sailors' personal motivations might have been, the judgment of history is that the Confederacy was founded on "treason in defense of slavery".

But there's something more: the graves were dug (and filled) right in the midst of that terrible war, by Union sailors who were burying their own comrades -- and the men who had killed them.

That is what I call setting aside politics in order to honor the dead.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Rest in peace, one and all."\\

Library Books, 24 May 2008

Ex machina. Book 04, March to war / Brian K. Vaughan, writer ; Tony Harris, pencils ; Tom Feister, inks.
6/3/2008
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A distant soil. Vol. IV, Coda / Colleen Doran.
6/3/2008
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RG Veda. Vol. 10 / by Clamp.
6/3/2008
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Rhode Island blues [sound recording] / by Fay Weldon.
6/3/2008
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The 9/11 report : a graphic adaptation / by Sid Jacobsen and Ernie Colón ; [with a foreword by Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton].
6/3/2008
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Torchwood, the complete first season [DVD] / British Broadcasting Corporation ; executive producers, Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner ; producer, Richard Stokes ; written by Russell T. Davies ... [et al.] ; directed by Brian Kelly ... [et al.].
6/4/2008
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World of warcraft : the art of the trading card game / forewords by Samwise Didier and Glenn Rane ; introduction by Jeremy Cranford.
6/4/2008
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Superman vs. Hollywood : how fiendish producers, devious directors, and warring writers grounded an American icon / Jake Rossen.
6/4/2008
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A book is born : 24 authors tell all / created by Nancy C. Cleary with co-authors Christine Louise Hohlbaum ... [et al.] ; illustrations by Kelley Cunningham ; editing by Kim Pearson.
6/4/2008
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Boldly live as you've never lived before : (unauthorized and unexpected) life lessons from Star trek / Richard Raben and Hiyaguha Cohen.
6/5/2008
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A woman's self-esteem : stories of struggle, stories of triumph / Nathaniel Branden.
6/5/2008
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Sublime spaces & visionary worlds : built environments of vernacular artists / Leslie Umberger ; with contributions by Erika Doss ... [et al.].
6/6/2008
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Your perfect right : assertiveness and equality in your life and relationships / Robert Alberti, Michael Emmons.
6/7/2008
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Overstreet comic book price guide / Robert M. Overstreet.
6/11/2008
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Batman. The long Halloween / writer, Jeph Loeb ; artist, Tim Sale ; colors, Gregory Wright ; created by Bob Kane.
6/18/2008
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Antique bakery Vol. 3 / Fumi Yoshinaga.
6/18/2008
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Imadoki! Nowadays. Vol. 01, Dandelion / Yû Watase.
6/18/2008
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Maxwell Strangewell / story and art by the Fillbach Brothers.
6/18/2008
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Perfect example / by John Porcellino.
6/18/2008
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Scott Pilgrim. Vol. 04, Scott Pilgrim gets it together / [Bryan Lee O'Malley].
6/18/2008
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Sorcerers & secretaries. Vol. 02 / by Amy Kim Ganter.
6/18/2008
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Spent / Joe Matt.
6/18/2008
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Bizarro comics / [writers, Jessica Abel ... [et al.].
6/20/2008
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The rejection collection vol. 2 : the cream of the crap / edited by Matthew Diffee.
6/20/2008
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All I need to know I learned from my cat (and then some) / Suzy Becker.
6/20/2008
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Einstein simplified : cartoons on science / by Sidney Harris.
6/20/2008
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Great lies to tell small kids / Andy Riley.
6/20/2008
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Schulz's youth / by Charles M. Schulz ; foreword by Jerry Scott.
6/20/2008
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Walt & Skeezix. 1923 & 1924 / by Frank O. King.
6/20/2008
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The Bakers. "Do these toys belong somewhere?" / Kyle Baker.
6/20/2008

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Read 'em and weep."\\

McCain Video

Here's your straight-talking maverick, America: http://video.tagged.com/?v=GEtZlR3zp4c&ect=dxaxxuk&al=1

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Next question."\\

Junking the Tercel

Kathe and I have owned three Tercel station wagons over the years. Overall, they've been the most reliable vehicles we've owned since original-series Beetles became too expensive to maintain.

Our most recent Tercel, a 1984, recently started making funny noises, which turned out to be very extensive wear that would have required about $1,200 worth of work. We could probably buy two equivalent cars for that much money, so sentimental and frugal as we are, the Tercel will be junked.

It's parked in front of the house right now. We've already stripped it of small items like the ice scrapers and the jack. Monday or Tuesday, we will v-e-e-e-r-y carefully drive it down to B&R Auto Wrecking and be done with it.

We also saved the owner's manual -- anybody need one?

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Life goes on."\\

My Father is Better

Actually, his recovery has been so rapid that his care team aren't trying to set goals for him, they're just monitoring his progress and waiting to see how much he recovers and how fast.

Kathe and I went to Eugene for his care conference, and for his first time out of the facility since his arrival. We went out to a Red Robin (more my parents' sort of place than mine, but not bad), hoping to be joined by my cousin Jean and her husband, but they were delayed.

Afterward, we went back to Dad's room at Riverpark to wait for the others to arrive, but the night shift I worked the night before caught up to me, and Kathe persuaded me to leave for home. I slept in the car for most of the trip.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "So far, so good."\\

All Those Kids, What to Do?

The authorities are hard-pressed to know what to do with all the kids they carried away from the FLDS compound: where to house them, who should care for them, how to deal with culture shock.

Hey, guys, here's a thought: Why didn't you just leave the women and children in place and just run the menfolk out? Jail them or rent motel rooms or whatever, let the DA's people and the social workers interview everyone in good order, and decide in some reasonable period of time who can go home before the trials and who can't?

A lot less trouble and disruption than spiriting the kids away and scattering them on the winds, seems like. Probably less expensive, too.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity. And never attribute to individual stupidity what can be explained by institutional culture."\\

My Father is Very Sick

He had to go off the coumadin in order to have oral surgery, and while he was off it, a blood clot formed and he had a stroke.

He's improving rapidly, but is still going to be in "skilled nursing facility" in Eugene fo awhile.

It's a nice one....


//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Be brave."\\

365 New Superheroes -- Honest!

A couple of years ago, I grandly announced at a purpose-built blog that I was going to create 365 new superheroes over the course of a year.

Considering that time was I tossed off a dozen or more in a single letter composed in an idle afternoon, I thought I could keep to an average of one a day without a lot of trouble.

Well, quite possibly I could have, but I didn't. I posted in fits and spurts, and eventually stopped posting at all.

So, I'm starting over again, as of today, 8 May 2008. Go to my blog and see how I'm doing.

//The Magic Eight Ball says, "So far, so good."\\

Spring Planting

I helped plant flags at the Iraq Memorial at the Valley Library today.

Each red flag represents five dead Americans. Each white flag represents five dead Iraqis. Takes awhile to plant that many flags.

I don't know what the other people planting flags were thinking about as they carried out the task, but I kept flashing back to occasions when I have had to handle actual dead people.

So many flags....

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Remember the dead".\\