Barefoot Bandit

The kid finally was stopped. After some prolific theft, flying planes, evading the police and apparently vacationing in Bermuda, Colton is back in the pokey.

So what gives? His mom plays apologist and Facebook racks his fans in the thousands. He's a regular fugitive celebrity, like Natural Born Killers portrayed so many years ago. Are we that fascinated with some kid that makes bad choices? Oh wait, I forgot, he's misunderstood...

No sympathy here, just shear disappointment in our ability to reason right and wrong.

Congrats Espana! Now get to work...

My father's homeland, Spain, won the World Cup. My congrats go out to my far reaching tie to this country. Now, hopefully, the country can refocus and reunite to rebuild an economy in shambles, and an ever increasing dissension among provinces. Time to put some rubber on the road, Spain, not just more running of the bull...

Of course, what would a fine international event be without a horrid act by terrorists. Detonating bombs near innocent civilians is of course cowardly, and perhaps one of the most unintelligent, shortsighted ways of trying to build your case to the world, however, it is the world we live in now - unintelligent. Throughout history it has been shown that the ignorant and uninformed have routinely found ways to be acknowledged. The biggest question we should all be asking is, will we (insert world here) let them do this indefinitely, or find a way to educate the uninformed and offer them an alternative to this ridiculous, selfish behaviour?

Random News...

AP reported today that the health care legislation enacted a few months ago will result in longer waits and crowding at ER's due to insufficient capacity and shortage of GP's. Does this really come as a surprise? While training for new providers was announced in the legislation, it could be some time, and more importantly unknown, if their impact will solve the burden placed on health care providers (not insurance companies!) I haven't clearly defined my stance on this issue. I do believe that if one needs care, they should have access to it (not free access), however, the legislation did little to address tort reform and decreased Medicare coverages, so how could that possibly solve the problem? The jury is still out, and as with all legislation served up by our 'representatives' in Congress, I am skeptical...

Our continued involvement in manned space travel will end soon, stripping the number of astronauts from over 100 to less than 10 in a few years. The southern states of Florida & Alabama will lose many jobs as NASA shrinks towards robotic development, and Texas will see serious job loss near the space center. We'll be paying Russia, Japan, and European countries to fly our cargo and robotics into space, at a whopping $50k per 60kg. Isn't that outsourcing? The cardinal sin of campaigners? I'll agree that NASA has done a poor job of PR in the last say, 30 years, but to strip it down to an R&D lab is a bit much for me to understand.

Today I bury my father, Joseph Fernandez Macia, who died 7 years ago. We've waited too long to put him to rest, but the time is right and his spirit is living among the grandchildren and his family stronger than ever. I miss you Dad, wish we could spend one more day fishing together on the ocean, and share a laugh over a beer. You are truly missed and forever in our hearts...

Three blind refs.

The international focus is centered on South Africa, hosting the World Cup and those masters of their game, FIFA. The FIFA-rific referees are having an exceptional show, offering enough controversy to the games to gag a maggot, and leaving the collective onlookers scratching their heads as to why technology can't be used, frugally and judiciously, to avoid such gaffs and blunders. I mean, really - Would it be that big of a deal to have replay correct these mistakes? I guess since it is only 'sport' we are not too worried about it, or maybe it is just that much more fun to talk about.

I coach soccer. Little guy soccer, like 9 year old peeps. They run reckless across the field hogging the ball and forgetting the cross they learned in practice, finding the open man, and setting up an attack. They smile, laugh, trip, and get called for offsides when they are still struggling to learn to spell it. This is why I love soccer, but I can't take the professional (well, FIFA) circuit allowing such ridiculous omission of accuracy. It might be OK for the 9 year old, but at the adult level perhaps I expect a bit more.

We use technology to fix our mistakes at work, home, etc. We rely on tech to solve problems and increase efficiencies. We use it knowing it isn't perfect but holds the potential for future greatness. Why can't FIFA be the same? I can't answer that, and apparently, they won't either, as their self-imposed ban on commenting on bad officiating takes precedence over common sense.

Either way, I'm taking a week off for family business soon. I should be well engrossed in Argentina-Germany by Saturday. Face painted, scarves wrapping my head, and a bull horn that rivals Rosie O'Donnell. Let's just hope the refs keep to themselves and don't make the outcome of the game their folly.

Birth of a Galaxy

June 1st marked the official first day of management over Galaxy Mfg. (Stevenson, WA) by The Last US Bag Company. We were excited to get started at Galaxy, digging in deep to best understand what this new addition to our company meant to us. Galaxy has been a long-time producer of protective lead and lead-free solutions to the radiology industry. Innovation and a creative owner kept Galaxy growing at a moderate pace over the years, and we hope to continue to grow the company and the product lines it delivers. This also added a much needed opportunity to expand our facilities overall, which at this point are near capacity. Look for new innovation from Galaxy soon, along with a dynamic web site and new GM Bruce Patton.

Oil Spill Creates Difficult Conundrum

Here's an ironic twist of events - The BP Oil Spill in the Gul is pumping oil out like Congress is spending money, and the mad rush is on for spill booms to help contain the mess. Most booms are made from PVC coated polyester, and the PVC they are made from is public enemy number one on the consumer end. Nike and other highly visible consumer companies have an all-out ban on the substance, which makes the use in this case somewhat ironic, since we are trying to limit an environmental disaster by producing something that is seen to be an environmental disaster. Hmmm.

This is very often the case, and regularly debated when humans attempt to mitigate their environmental impact - What we attempt to solve a problem with actually gives birth to another. Look at the hybrid car battery. While the impact of the emissions of the vehicle is reduced, the toxic disposal and creation of the battery spawns an entirely new set of complicated issues. We, as humans, tend to believe we have all the answers using science and our complex data models of information, yet we fail, or refuse, to admit that so often our theories and hypothesies are faulty. Take the ozone layer phenomena. Remember when the Earth wouldn't exist as we know it due to solar radiation? Well, now scientists are stating that human reduction of ozone depleting chemicals has helped stabilize the ozone, but has actually become a proponent of global warming - our newest poster-child for the masses.

There is no question we need to continue to find solutions to our problems, and a best effort using the tools of science and research are critical, however our egos need to be set aside, sensationalism reduced, the media controlled if possible, and the special interests put in their place. A huge task at hand I might add. Kind of like containing an oil spill.

The EU is PU (as in smelly, my friends)

Although we are sovereign to our currency (sort of), should we not concern ourselves with our own burgeoning debt crisis here in the US, we could undoubtedly end up in the tailspin the EU is experiencing now. While a few of the countries in the EU are driving the economic meltdown for the other participant countries, it reminds us of the old cliche - one rotten apple can spoil the bunch. Proponents of global currency ideologies ought to be concerned with the performance of such plans and the consequences they afford. Governmental spending has to be controlled, period. I am not sure how anyone can believe otherwise...