Circle of Death

Beautiful day, the sun shining, and the blossoms exploding everywhere. A nest of birds, starlings actually - had taken up residence for the third or fourth year. Loud, pushy and obnoxious - they summarily destroyed the home of the original occupants, a nice sparrow couple who must now do as best they can in the rain gutter of neighbour dave's house. I have no idea if they have ever sucessfully pulled off a brood - but I never recall having seen a young one survive the rains. They come back every year, perhaps because they know no other place - or because they hope the starlings won't come back.

Things were the same this year, the sparrows, polite, industrious and benevolent - arriving early and setting up shop until the wasp of the aviators arrived yet again, eating their eggs and beginning their own yearly routine.
I have been unwilling to close off the opening in the porch, for the inconvienience was always outweighed by the life experience. Today I was reminded of the unfortunate side of it. Arriving in a fine mood, the dog - Deeogee, was quick to point out the young, motley chick that was baking in the sun. Looking not too bad for the huge fall, I tucked the lil fellow back behind the boards, and sure enough - and soon enough he was back out. Now I realized this was the runt - the weaker, late hatching chick that was expendable this year. Being brutalized by your siblings, or left to die of exposure - a easy meal for a cat - or a quick flush? Either way, I was in the mix because I chose to have yearly guests.
Kinda ruined my day.

Rube's Game

Marketing. Market Research. These are the lynchpins of everything that happens everywhere in the world. Trust me when I tell you. no cardboard box, or Federal spending initiative moves an inch without six feet of data purporting to support such a monumentak decision. Millions of dollars are spent basically covering asses - and as we can all attest - there are a lot of big asses to conceal in both the public and private services.

The problem is, this information is quite often bullshit. Or better put - horseshit. Companies desperate to secure and maintain business (read:money) will bend over backward to produce the results that the client fully expects to see. Regardless of the prevailing winds, these companies will blow and blow until the framing of questions, selection of demographics, and outright fradulent methodology ensures that everybody is happy - except a great deal of resources have been wasted to legitimize a bastard.