On this day last year I was up late watching my C-SPAN when some thunderous military precision bombs hit the ground. For once it wasn't across the street from my neighborhood. This time it was real global warfare, delivered to the viewer in what was supposed to be shocking and awe-inspiring roll-of-the-dice drama. As if to foreshadow with apt metaphor, we missed our mark; already fully declared, the war had officially begun. Of course, if you were to use the definite article now, it might be confused with that other war involving terrorism (oh yeah), or the quiet war we waged against democracy in Haiti, or the specter of the Viet Nam war incarnated by the RNC to prepare for the presidential mudfest. Yes way back at the beginning of last year, our preoccupation and certainly our participation in warfare was somewhat less. Now this in yesterday....

If you hated Iraq, you're going to hate the future... Welcome to the 21st century.

So says James Carafano, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He feels it's important that we accept the fact that we are now constantly at a state of war, engaging many fronts. I'm liable to believe him, too, because besides working at a pork-barrel propoganda factory, in his day job he teaches strategy to our future military leaders. In prior days, he executed it, involving WMD as necessary. In case you missed it, and it appears many of you might've, the century he's referring to would be the New American Century. I can only tell you this once, nation:

If you re-elect George Bush for another term you don't know what you are signing on to. The war has just begun!

The American conversation has again turned ugly and the chief flavor is distortion. It's getting to the point where a man can't call a lie a lie, let alone find decent scraps of compassion or sincerity. In contrast, I greatly admire Ralph Nader for his lifelong commitment to serve on behalf of the honest interests of the common American citizen and consumer, fighting adverse odds and formidable adversaries. He has spent a career in pursuit of truth. I find it refreshing in this age of petty partisan monkey-business and slick corporate-sponsored politics that our culture can still somehow produce a champion that can repeatedly turn the long haul of presidential politics into a sustained example of efficient grassroots network activism on a sweeping mission and a tight budget. His speeches, when we can find them, remind us what our country and its values used to be.

God Bless America For Producing Ralph Nader.

Thanks for Kerry, too. No thanks are necessary, though, for another single from my CD.

Amid Life

by Hilfiger Tout

I wrote and recorded this song in a day. My mic setup is poor and the mix is raw, but it felt like the right time to cut, and I never wanted to redo it. I dedicate it to the folks at Groucho's Hotspot, who amid their own lives nurse private moments of dissatisfaction with music. Under the license, you are permitted to copy, distribute, or perform any of these songs free of charge, so let's hear. It's not as if you can take this song from me.

Wasn't Mentata Systems all about software? Someday I will be again, but for now the phoenix is busy in the flames. I can attest that the quality of the new code exceeds the old, and the new possibilities are exciting. Of course, that doesn't mean I haven't forgotten something.

Suggestions?