Moved to New URL

I have moved the blog to a different URL to make it easier to find.

You can find it here at www.theinquisitivetechie.com

Voices from the front lines

I read several moving blogs today written by soldiers serving behind enemy lines in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The insights provided are incredible. Images of their daily lives, that are both frightening and funny at the same time. In this post, from ruminations of a soldier medic, you can feel the confusion and intensity of a first time firefight:

“Every one looked at every one else as we started hearing booms. They started getting louder, so we all started throwing on our body armor and helmets. My guys all went outside to investigate. At this point, I was kind of scared, but I didn’t really know what to expect. This was the first time something like this has happened to me. I ventured outside cautiously to find out what was going on. The shooting, the booms, all the sounds you don’t want to hear-they just kept escalating. They weren’t going away.”

There are a lot of perspectives that we have a hard time understanding about these soldiers. They are all serious, hard working, dedicated, and well, so young. From Eighty Deuce on the Loose in Iraq:

“OK, heres where the Infantry guy thing comes into play. First off, consider our situation. We are a bunch of males, many of which are straight out of high school. We now live together, work together and pretty much spend 24/7 with each other. And to make matters worse, you coup us up inside a Humvee for 10’s of hours at a time. Its going to get crazy. “

Some of the stories are funny. Gallows humor at times, but there are many belly laughs out there. Bill and Bob’s Excellent Afghan Adventure is full of them:

“There is an old saying that the only difference between an Army story and a fairy tale is that a fairy tale starts with ‘Once upon a time,’ and an Army story starts with ‘No shit, this really happened…’ “

While funny at times, Bill and Bobs’ writer uses real statistics in his skewering the of media and the New York Times in particular, on their sensationalist story about Global Terror War veterans and the violent crimes some have committed since returning from theater.

I found many that had unique photos from behind the lines, which were particularly fascinating to me, because I have seen so few of them on the news. Army of Dude (best. name. ever.) has tons of photos, as does Leave the Gun (is it a Godfather reference? – “leave the gun, take the cannoli”). Finally, how can you not like a guy called Dude in the Desert. Simple. Easy.

These stories are not being told in the mainstream media, and these soldiers “outside the wire” know it. Their insight is invaluable in us really understanding the war in Iraq, the forgotten war in Afghanistan, and any other place our kids are dying. Read their stories, understand their emotions, and support our troops. Not by buying a new magnetic sticker for your SUV, but by listening to them, by recognizing their sacrifices, and by respecting them.

These are serious young people, and they are serving in chaotic and dangerous places because they said they would. They have earned your respect.

Here’s a couple of ways you can support our troops:

Learn more at 1000 Reasons, or over at Vet Voice.

Send em some love over at Soldiers Angels or AnySoldier.

Get the facts straight over at FactChecker.org

Support Peace

New heroes

Someone mysteriously sent me a terrific book, Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder. Not a book I would ordinarily seek out, it has changed my mind on many issues, and opened my eyes to many other important ones.

Only because quoting the back of the book saves me an hour or so of rewriting it…

“Doctor, Harvard professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, world-class Robin Hood, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life’s calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most.”

Paul Farmer is genuinely inspiring, as you can see in this YouTube video talking about his foundation Partners in Health. PIH offers help to places of the world that nobody else is. Here are some ways that you can help.

Is the United States headed for fiscal crisis?

This video is about David Walker, the Comptroller General of the United States. He’s the nations top accountant, and runs the General Accounting Office, the agency responsible for auditing the books of the federal budget.

David believes that current record deficits, coupled with the crippling weight of entitlement programs like Medicare will soon bankrupt the United States. He has given up on congress, and has taken his message to you, the average man. It’s short, so please watch the video, it certainly is eye-opening.

David Walker resigned this past Friday, citing an inability to get this message out as one of his reasons.  His next position will be as the president and CEO of the newly founded Peter G. Peterson Foundation.  The foundation’s mission statement from their web site:

The mission of The Peter G. Peterson Foundation is to enhance public understanding of the nature and urgency of selected key sustainability challenges that threaten America’s future, to propose sensible and workable solutions to address these challenges and to build public will to do something about them.

“As comptroller general of the United States,” said David Walker, the federal government’s top accountant, “there are real limitations on what I can do and say in connection with key public policy issues, especially issues that directly relate to G.A.O.’s client – the Congress.”

“While I love both my job as comptroller general and the GAO,” said Walker, “I love my country more. And I believe that leading this foundation represents a unique opportunity and will be good for my country. My new position will provide me with the ability and resources to more aggressively address a range of current and emerging challenges facing our country, including advocating specific policy solutions and courses of action.”

Sounds like a good man left an untenable situation to me.

Is that Ron Jeremy over at mcdonalds.com?

I got a pop up ad from McDonald’s today. Their semantic auto-targeting online advertising software must be pure genius, I will admit. But there was something even creepier than that in my ad, RON JEREMY.

Yep, The porn star seems to have moved on to more mainstream media. His likeness seems to have at least been an inspiration for the, for lack of a better word – inspiring – fast food loving character, who seems to revel in his abject poverty, and shabby attire. The Dollar Menu Guy is the human embodiment of tacky.

While there is something to be said for the advertising to your target market, embracing that your target market is mostly poor is probably not as good an idea. The tape on the furniture, the clothes drying on the radiator, and the lawn chair don’t look as much like fun to me, as they do symptoms of poverty.

Choosing a character whose likeness reminds one of long nights with porn starlets and cocaine, is likely as good as it gets when you are selling crappy $1 hamburgers at 2 a.m. from the drive through. So, thank you McDonald’s for keeping The Hedgehog working, if only in spirit. Time is definitely not on Ron’s side for much longer, and he could probably use the work. Don’t count him out yet though, but there are not too many 60 year old male porn stars working I suspect.

Finally, this is not the first corporate giant to borrow the high visibility actor’s image. Rumors of Nintendo’s copyright infringement against Jeremy swept the web just a few years ago…

Good news continues for Obama, not so much for Clintons

In continuing trends, the good news continues from the Obama camp. In the latest primaries Obama has cut deeply into Hillary Clinton’s base, and continues to win convincingly in red states, where he was not expected to do well. The 2 million member strong SEIU Union gave Obama a critical endorsement, and this just in from the New York Times:

“Representative John Lewis, an elder statesman from the civil rights era and one of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s most prominent black supporters, said Thursday night that he planned to cast his vote as a superdelegate for Senator Barack Obama in hopes of preventing a fight at the Democratic convention.”

Over in Clinton’s camp? Bill has been accused of misusing campaign mailing lists to garner millions in consulting fees in trade for lists of supporters. Mark Penn, Hillary’s chief strategist was tied to controversial nuclear firm, Exelon, and shown to have accepted nearly a $250,000 in consulting fees from them.

Hillary is also being railed for missing a critical vote on the FISA Bill extension, including immunity for Telecoms who aided in warrentless wiretaps on United States citizens. Obama missed the vote to be fair, and he was in DC. Mrs. Clinton was campaigning in Texas, as her new strategy is to bank everything on Ohio and Texas.

The Clinton campaign is losing the financing race badly, and Hillary has vowed to take the Democratic nomination even if she does not win the popular vote, but persuades enough superdelegates to vote for her at the convention, her campaign advisers say. She even had her own surreal Coast to Coast Town Hall meetings – that nobody noticed.

This election is starting to look one sided to everyone but the Clintons. I hope they start to notice soon for all our sakes.

The Folly of Attacking Iran. Lessons from History

Did you know that Iran had a functioning democracy before the United States removed it, and put the Shah of Iran back in power? Did you know that the United States and Iran actually have much in common, including strategic long term interests for both countries?

JustForeignPolicy.org is touring the United States with the experts in the video below and others, building a movement against military confrontation with Iran, and for real diplomacy.

Find out more, sign the petition, and join them at:

http://www.FollyofAttackingIran.org

Watch the video:

Guns.

I know perfectly sane people that own guns. Lots of them. They are our fathers, my friends, my customers, and people just like me.

Except, they own guns. No other single factor about these people in any way, other than the fact that they own a handgun makes them any different from me.

But they feel different to me in some way. I do not love them less, or respect them less, but they feel different now, and I don’t know why.

Several times over the last month or so, I have had random conversations about, and one unexpected exposure to, handguns. More specifically, I have had conversations about owning guns and carrying them. But I have to rewind…

This story starts in back in January, at a client’s office in a rough neighborhood. I’m sitting at a table in a small conference room with a client, talking about software for his business.

The wiry, smaller man reaches into his waistband and drops a small automatic pistol on the conference table in front of me. “Check this out” he states, matter of fact like. I am being watched, very carefully, for my response. I also know immediately and instinctively not to reach for it, without question. I can see this clearly in his eyes.

“wow” … is all I can muster. This is a Twilight Zone like moment for me, one I have not experienced before, and my brain is trying desperately to right itself. I have never had a gun pulled on me in a meeting before.

“this is a rough neighborhood… huh?” is all I can blurt out as I try to save myself. Poorly.

“Nah, I always have one on me, anyways. I have a carry-all permit, Check out the other one on my leg.” Two guns now.

“really?” Again, meekly, I mutter. I am surprised again, and I am now mad at myself. I didn’t notice his earlier cue to show all of our weapons, and he takes this as an immediate weakness, and moves his chair a bit closer to me, sensing that I am perhaps uncomfortable, with the guns in the room, and on the table so to speak.

“Guns sure make a conversation go in a different direction sometimes.” he simply states, and pops the little handgun back into it’s secret holster and the guns are all gone.

This is surreal. I am a computer consultant, not a cop, or a army captain. Most of us are not armed at work. I am definitely not. He finishes mumbling that the software is great, and thanks me. He walks out of the room, and I find a reason to leave, quickly.

Behind Obama’s Wave of Victories: The More They Know Him….

Great article on Obama’s surge to overtake Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries over at the Huffington Post…

People want someone to believe in.

When did the comics get all serious?

One of my favorite webcomics is Penny Arcade, written and illustrated by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. The content material focuses mainly on video games, the gaming industry, and the gamer sub-culture. However, over the past year or two some more serious topics have come up, as the characters have, gasp, grown up a bit…. Click the strip above for a larger, more legible version.

Some of my favorite “real” paper comics tackle serious issue too. Funky Winkerbean, a strip I have read for many years, recently “killed off” a character, and reset the entire clock on the comic. All of the characters have been fast-forwarded 15 years or so, and their lives moved further into adulthood accordingly. Throughout however, Batiuk has covered topics like teen pregnancy, adoption, and U.S. servicemen returning home from Afghanistan with devastating injuries.

Doonesbury is always high on my list, but we have always expected serious topics from Gary Trudeau. His own characters are now dealing with issues like the massive number of brain trauma injuries to soldiers serving in Iraq, the elections, and the current administration. Trudeau’s characters are iconic, maybe none more so than Uncle Duke, the character based in part on late “Gonzo” journalist Hunter S. Thompson.

Trudeau ’s cast has aged gracefully, at the same time introducing new cast members to introduce us all to the new issues of today. He even has a blog for U. S. Soldiers serving in the middle east called The Sandbox. Here’s a great Washington Post article on Trudeau. I am still mystified as to why his web site is still on Slate. It’s so…. 1999.

Zits features Jeremy Duncan, a now 16 year old aspiring rock musician, and his parents, “who don’t understand anything“. The fanciful ways that the strip bends and distorts reality reminds me very much of Calvin and Hobbes. The character often morphs into younger, older, zanier versions of himself, much like Calvin. I cannot express, now that I have my own near-teenage son, how much I can relate to Jeremy’s gigantic feet. Have you priced sneakers lately?

A newer comic with great characters, including an always smoking version of the creator, is Stephan Pastis’ Pearls before Swine. The characters are flawed, but lovable, and if you look closely you will see a lot of subtle gems hidden amongst the simpler humor. Here is today’s strip, for Valentines Day:

I have a very soft spot in my heart for Calvin and Hobbes, likely the best strip ever, and I also love Peanuts, but I have left them off of my list for one simple reason – they are not being drawn today. While both are incredible works, but the one thing I like most about the comics is tomorrow’s strip, the promise of a continued relationship. What is goingt to happen to our friends? Will it be a light day, or a grave day? We know these characters, check up on them every day.

Like real life, the comics tug at our heart strings, and invite us along on great and wonderful adventures.

But do they always have to be so darn serious?