Atheism and me.

I have had the distinct pleasure in the last few days of immersing myself more in the atheist/secular blogging community, primarily over at Friendly Atheist, run by Hemant Mehta. I won a book on his site, so hey, how bad can it be to get involved? Most of the comments there are exactly what I would expect from a group of like-minded individuals: calm, cool, collected, relaxed.

Not too bad, really.

So, I thought I'd start blogging again, with a little topic about how I became an atheist. It's really only in the last couple years I've started identifying as an atheist. I was nominally Christian for the first ten or fifteen years of my life, but I always challenged the core beliefs of that dogma - the concept of an earth created in seven days, the idea that Christ died to protect me from sin. Pretty much everything except for the concept of the afterlife.

And that was comforting to me. In university, I finally began to identify as a deist, someone who believes in a divine source of creation. I've always had an overwhelming belief in the integrity of the scientific method and the results therein, so it was only a logical step. But as I refined my mind through my university years, that phase did not last long, either. I realized what I've read a thousand times since then: if a god created everything, who created a god?

So yeah. What makes my journey particularly fulfilling is that I've made it all on my own (like Li'l Brudder). It's not very outstanding, aside from that I can recall points in my journey that were defining.

1. Sunday school at the Baptist Church just down the road, I asked the teacher about the possibility of God creating the universe from a deist perspective, allowing science to partake on its own. I wasn't welcome back. I was six.

2. In grade 5 or 6, a group of Christians passed out New Testaments to my class. They then came by in recess, asking us to sign the back at them, where you acknowledged that Christ is your Lord and Saviour and all that. I was pressured into signing by these people, and my classmates. I was twelve.

3. In grade 10, I had a confrontation with two girls in my class who were originally from South Carolina. Admittedly, I was extremely attracted to one of the girls, so I think I gave her point of view more credence than I would do today. But we disagreed on the concept of evolution, and I heard my first real intelligent design argument. To be honest, till then I had never even conceived that people existed who believed evolution was false. I was fifteen.

4. In grade 11, the same two girls invited me to meet "Dr." Kent Hovind, the infamous creationist and tax cheat, none of which I was familiar with at the time. Two hours later, I realized that this man was absolutely off his rocker.

5. Grade 12, one of the two girls gave a presentation on intelligent design to the biology class. She was laughed out of the classroom. At the time I felt bad for her, because I still didn't know the sort of damage that ID had done in the USA. I still hadn't broadened my mind.

6. By the end of university, I learned...quite a lot about politics in the rest of the world, and I had a MSN conversation with one of the same ladies. It was 2004, in November, and quite heated - she was volunteering for GWB's campaign in Virginia, and she attacked my pro-Kerry views quite vehemently. She later apologized, but I am quite sure that she views me with incredible distaste...simply for disagreeing with her.

These things each pushed me further and further from religion. Trying to justify why I think abortion is a critical right to someone who screams about God damning us all to Hell....is an experience I never want to engage in again.

So that's me...

Fact: The Political Wire is awesome.

One of the sites I have been following recently has been Taegan Goddard's Political Wire, a fairly popular blog that details what's going on in US politics. Since I do avidly follow American politics (being that it is far more exciting if also more frustrating than Canadian politics), I really like the site.

Anyway, highly recommended for people to check it out if they want to know what's going on. I've also been posting in the comments from time to time, and I like a lot of the people there. There's even a few reasonable conservatives, something you rarely see online! A rare breed indeed.

Check it out.

The Rise of the Lone Ranger, Chapter 2

That night, the noise of a single horse broke the unnatural silence so close to the village. Dull orange lights still illuminated the clearing and the area near the road where the village once was, and the lone trooper approaching navigated by them. Trees had fired, and flame-consumed human skeletons rested near their bases. Reid kept riding, though. Skeletons in war were not evidence.

Back to the woods he went, pausing once he was half-way to the clearing to make sure he hadn't been followed. After returning to the unit's camp, his hands had finally stopped shaking. He'd reloaded his pistol and his rifle, knowing he had a task at hand. That somehow, he had to make this right. Or, more accurately, bring the atrocities of Cavendish to light. The average trooper couldn't be blamed for the way the major had manipulated the situation for his delight and perverse joy.

After he waited for ten, fifteen, twenty minutes, Reid creeped by moonlight deeper into the forest, finding the clearing using the keen sense of navigation he'd developed while riding for days deep in the Texas frontier. The blanket was still there, wrapped tightly around the young blonde who'd had the misfortune to catch Cavendish's eye.

Carefully, he lifted her up, placing her over his shoulder. Holding her with his left hand, Reid started to walk back, holding the holster of his pistol with his right hand. Even though he was a left-handed man, Reid was almost as good with his right, and good thing too.

"'ere, what we got here?" a voice said. Dan Reid stopped still. He could almost smell Tyler Smith behind him, the lapdog Cavendish had trusted with the location of his small lair. "I reckon you ought to turn around," Smith said. Reid did so, to find himself looking at Smith. The man was short, stooped in a strange way, but more importantly, was pointing the business end of his Model 1860 at Reid's head, from about thirty feet back.

Standing slightly to his side was another of Cavendish's boys, a young ruffian from New England by the name of Tom Jackson. Unfortunately for Jackson, he shared a name with a famous Rebel general. While "Stonewall" Jackson was by all accounts a fierce warrior and honourable man, his namesake in the Union cavalry was suspected by all to be a petty thief and had a tendency to get into fights in the various bars and brothels visited by the common troopers while relaxing in a town. His pistols were holstered, and he seemed happy to let Smith do the talking - or as the case may have been, the shooting.

"Private Smith, Private Jackson," Reid said, his light blue eyes gazing over to the men opposed to him. "Follow me here?"

"Nah, Major Bart sent us to clean up the mess he left here. Seems he felt someone mighta come on his day's fun."

"You call this fun?" Reid said, as he felt his stomach toss. Smith wasn't smart enough to be the leader, but he was cruel enough to revel in the chaos. "Smith, I'm going to put this lady's body down. Y'all don't shoot me yet."

"Now, why you think I'ma shoot you, Reid?"

"You're a traitorous piece of shit, Smith."

"Talk at me like that and I'll gut-shot you just like the bitch got it."

Reid didn't respond yet. He took a moment to lower the body to the ground. "No, you won't. You're going to take me to Cavendish, on account of you're a worm and that's what fucking worms like you do."

"Fuck you, Reid."

"Yeah, well...what the hell is that!" Reid shouted, suddenly, pointing over Smith's shoulder. Instinctively the shorter man twisted, and in a heartbeat, Reid pulled the pistol from its holster and fired. There was a spark and the Colt pistol in Smith's hands went flying. Both men opposing Reid were startled, and both of their hands rose in shock and surrender.

"Christ almighty, you shot the pistol off his hands!" blurted Jackson. His eyes were wide and frightened, as Reid's thumb pulled the hammer back on the pistol.

"Jackson, drop your irons or the next one's in your chest," Reid ordered, calmly. His hands weren't shaking anymore. "Smith, you drop your spare." Both men slowly pulled pistols from holsters and tossed them away.

"I'm taking this girl, and I'm taking her straight to General Grant," Reid said. The plan had been coming together in his mind for some hours, but saying it he knew it was the right thing to do. "When he sees what Cavendish's done, he'll make it right. He'll see what a butcher the man is." The young girl's last words reverberated in his mind.

Smith looked around with surprisingly stealthy eyes, and then his gaze returned to Dan Reid's cold blue stare. "And what's to stop us from telling the boss, having him stop you?"

"Good point," Reid said. The pistol shot again, a dark spot appearing between Smith's eyes. Jackson leaped and closed his eyes. There was a faint hiss, and moist dampness spread over the front of his trousers.

"Christ, I pissed meself," he murmured. "Please, God, don't let the man shoot me."

"I ain't gonna shoot you, Jackson," Reid said.

One eye opened. It was surprisingly dull. "Really?" he asked.

"No." Reid hit him hard in the head with the base of his pistol. The ruffian crumpled, unconscious. Reid took a moment to feel for the man's pulse, then stood up, reloading his pistol first, then gathering the girl's corpse. He walked out of the woods and tied the bundle to the back of his horse, then mounted up. He guessed he had an hour before Cavendish missed his men, and another hour before the search was on. Chattanooga was in flames and it was thirty miles away.

"Hi-yo and away," Reid muttered to his horse, and they started off down the road for the embattled town.

Sunlight was nearing the horizon as Reid trotted towards Chattanooga. It was a crisp November morning. He could smell smoke heavy in the air, having covered a large amount of the distance already. The road was strangely deserted, and Reid hadn't seen more than a couple wagons heading back, wagons surely carrying wounded soldiers to safety and hopeful hospitals further back from the fight.

He wasn't exactly sure what day it was, but as he trotted closer to Chattanooga upon his horse, he knew that the fighting had been going on for at least a day. Five miles out from the town camps, abandoned now, proliferated. The whole of the Union army, seemingly, had been deployed in the fighting.

The woods closed back on the road as Reid continued on. It was a slightly winding road, falling between two hills. The distant sound of artillery had grown stronger, and Reid realized the forward points of the ridges were likely being used as artillery positions to support whatsoever attack was going on.

The sky had gone from black, to purple, and now to a light blue as the sun threatened to peek above the trees. The thunder of the guns wasn't as heavy as Reid had heard. In fact, after a few minutes, they went unnaturally silent.

His ears strained to hear for a few moments, and that's when he noticed it - the sound of hooves from behind. He twisted and looked over his shoulder, but a fortuitous bend in the road hid whosoever it was from his sight - and vice versa. Quietly, he turned, urging his steed into the trees, hiding in the shadowy brush.

Sure enough, after a minute, eight riders came into sight. Reid recognized the first one - Collins, the man who had obviously emerged as Cavendish's lieutenant in carnage. He had droopy, bloodshot eyes and, as Reid recalled, yellowish, rotting teeth that seemed to grant the man terrible breath. Here, he was riding with an unslung carbine, and watching the road ahead.

Reid took in the other men of the party. Major Cavendish hadn't come along - this sort of thing wasn't his scene. If the plot to murder Reid backfired, he could always blame it on Collins. The other names came to light easily. Wesson, O'Malley, Regan, Sherry, Kuntz, and Green. The ones that Reid worried more about were O'Malley, who was an Irish man and a right mean sonofabitch, Kuntz, who was a second-generation German and had a penchant for swords in combat, and Collins himself.

The little column passed, and Reid ushered his horse quietly back onto the road. He sighed, inwardly, and lifted up the Sharps carbine, holding a spare round in his right hand. Carefully, he sighted the gun, and gently squeezed the trigger. It bucked lightly in his hands, and O'Malley slid off his horse, struck instantly dead by the round that thudded into his back and pierced his heart.

Working rapidly, Reid slid the hammer back on the Sharps carbine. He shoved the round and the powder into the chamber, and then sighted again. It had only taken a few seconds to do this, ready as he had been, and the cavalrymen he opposed had twisted around. Their horses were fresh, he'd noticed, meaning they'd rode hard for at least ten, fifteen miles behind him on one steed, then switched to continue the pursuit. His horse was tired and carrying at least an extra hundred pounds of dead weight.

The first carbine shots cracked off and both landed wide, one sparking off a rock about twenty feet to the side of Reid, the second kicking up dirt somewhere behind him. Collins was the furthest away now, and he took a moment to aim at the cavalry sergeant. Reid responded by firing the carbine. This time he aimed at the opposing man's gun, and the carbine leapt, sundered, from Collins's hands, the deflected bullet smacking into his arm and sending him spinning from his mount.

Quickly, Reid's spurs dug into his horse, and the animal took off at a gallop. The experienced sergeant slid the Sharps carbine's strap over his shoulder, then reached across his body to tug the Model 1860 pistol from his right hip. Instead of running away, Reid made his intention clear. He chose to run through the group. There were six left standing and his pistol held six shots.

Two more carbines barked as he drew near, but both went high and wide, as the men were still reacting to the sudden assault. Their leader was down, groaning in pain, and some of the men were concerned about trampling Collins. Kurtz, however, was levelling his pistol in the direction of Reid. Quickly the ex-patriot Texan pulled back the hammer on his Colt, squeezing the trigger. Kurtz cried out as the round took him high in the shoulder, and he was knocked off the horse.

Reid pulled the hammer back once more and took a shot - this time he didn't aim to kill, or anything close, and the round barely missed Regan. The man's white cap, however, was clipped by the round and it flew off the assailant's head. Two more shots, pistols, this time rang out, and Reid felt something sear over his hip, a close graze. He bit his lip, hard, tasting blood, and shot again. With a heavy grunt, Green slumped in his saddle, clutching at his stomach.

Then Reid was through, leaning forward over his horse. The men who were untouched didn't shoot back, watching as the elusive cavalry sergeant continued to charge down the road. They'd been taken by surprise and soundly beaten, and without the more bloodthirsty members of the troop, the survivors lost their interest in the enterprise.

Reid let the horse slow after a furious five minute gallop. He reigned in and let the horse stop after another minute, and then slid down to the ground. He reloaded his pistol and rifle as the horse caught its breath. And then he made sure his package was tied securely. After ten minute, during which no pursuit came, Reid mounted back up. They continued east.

The sun broke over the horizon and temporarily blinded Dan Reid. He shifted, tipping his cap forward to let the brim cast a better shadow over his eyes. The smell of combat was thicker in the air - spent powder, blood, feces and decomposing bodies mingled in with the more natural smoke and earth one would expect in an area that had been torn up by shot, shell, and soldier. Reid rode, finally, into a camp of Union soldiers.

A sentry watched the cavalryman approach, holding his rifled musket at attention, with a sharp-looking bayonet attached to the end. "Halt," he said. Reid obliged, and reigned in his horse. "Who comes?" the man asked. He was young. Scarcely old enough to shave, Reid thought.

"Sergeant Dan Reid, Second Troop, 1st Battalion, 4th Michigan Cavalry," he responded, shifting lightly atop the horse. "Here with important messages for command," he continued.

"Messages for whom," the sentry asked.

"General Grant," Reid responded.

"You'll find the general's tents on Orchard Knob," the sentry said. He shifted and gestured with his bayonet. "I reckon they'll ask a few more questions there." The man waved him off, and Reid rode away, heading for the hill that the boy had indicated. It was a sharp rise, and he could immediately see why Grant would choose it.

As the sentry had suggested, Reid was stopped twice more as he drew near. He was within sight of Grant's tents when a captain stopped Reid with a suspicious eye. "What unit are you from, son," the brash Northerner said.

"4th Michigan, sir."

"You don't sound like you're from Michigan."

"My family's from Michigan, sir, but I was born in Texas. Moved back to Detroit when this shit with the Rebs started. I'm no Reb, sir. I love the Union, my dad loves the Union."

"And you want what, exactly?"

"I want to speak with General Grant."

"Who sent you?" Reid was silent. "Nobody sent you, son?"

"It's not about that. There's something I have to report."

"So tell your commanding officer."

"It's about my commanding officer, sir."

"General Grant doesn't have the time to deal with every little regimental fuss, son. I suggest you get back to your unit."

"Sir, five minutes."

"Here's how it is, Sergeant. I ain't letting nobody who sounds like they're from Texas get within a pistol's shot of Grant. It's my job to keep him safe. You're a liability, and I'm not taking that risk."

Reid stared at the man. "What do you have in that bundle, anyway?" the captain said, moving around.

"It's a girl's body."

"What?"

"It's a dead girl's body. The men in my unit massacred a village, and they burned 'em all. She got the worst of it, and the man leading my unit caused it to happen."

"These things happen in war, Serge-"

"Not like this, sir. I gotta tell you, I have seen horrors, I've gutted men, I've put holes in them from five feet out with my smokewagon, I've watched skulls get trampled by my horse. It's not like this. I gotta see General Grant."

"General Grant isn't the type of person who deals with these things. In case you hadn't noticed, Sergeant," he said, but then he fell silent. Reid followed the man's gaze.

"What sort of things don't I deal with, Captain Miller?" said a surprisingly soft, but gruff voice. The bearded visage of Ulysses Grant, in a muddy, crumpled uniform covered by a simple private's jacket, was approaching in the morning smog. Reid noticed that Grant's right hand was holding the handle of a pistol as he looked over the fellow. "I'm the commanding officer, aren't I?"

Both men saluted, and then Reid opened his mouth. "Sir," he began, but quickly he was cut off by Miller.

"General Grant, sir, this trooper has minor matters of local occupation. I was about to refer him back to his commanding officer."

"But-"

"But the man's commanding officer is responsible for the outrages thus committed, correct, Sergeant Reid?" Grant asked. He'd clearly been listening. Reid nodded.

"Yes sir."

"How bad is it?"

"Bad, sir."

"You're from Texas, son?"

"Yes sir."

"Hmm. Not planning to shoot me for Pete Longstreet, are you?" Grant said. His lips curved behind his beard. "No, Ol' Pete doesn't play that way. Mr. Miller, stand down, please, and find us a tent. This isn't something we'd all ought to see."

"Yes sir," Miller said. He saluted and moved off. Reid dismounted and looked at Grant.

"You understand I can't deal with this now, but tell me your story and show me the poor girl's body, and I'll sign off on your report."

"I understand, sir," Reid said. After a moment, Grant took the reigns of Reid's horse and led it over to a tent. He had two troopers take the bundled body into a tent and he entered with Reid. The examination only took a few moments, as Reid tersely explained how Cavendish had manipulated the situation.

"By God," Grant muttered, when Reid finished with the ambush he'd put together on the road. He hadn't said anything else during the five or ten minutes Reid had been speaking. "By the grace of God. Bartholomew Cavendish, you said? 4th Michigan?"

"Yes sir."

"I'll send Miller to arrest him immediately, and the men you said were after you today. You'll not face any charges, Reid. You've done right."

"What'll be the charges?"

"Murder, rape, the usual. Honestly, I doubt we'll hang any of them. War's too bad for that. But we'll make it public that we're trying to bring justice. Always a good story in the paper. This butcher, Cavendish, he won't wear Union colours once we're done, I can promise you that. If we can prove some of the others wanted to kill you, maybe a few will be shot by firing squad. But, we'll have to see, won't we?"

Grant reached over and placed a hand on Reid's shoulder. "You did good to bring this to my attention. I'll draft orders attaching you to my personal train for now. You can read and write?" Reid nodded. "Good. Take the day and write out your story. We're going to be trying to push Bragg off Missionary Ridge today. If it works, we'll move soon. But if it's written down, I'll see to it eventually. I have to begin the preparations for the day, Sergeant."

Grant saluted, a salute promptly returned by Reid. "We'll speak again, Lieutenant."

"Sergeant, sir."

"Not anymore." Grant smiled and then lifted the canvas tent flap. "I'll send a detail to find a grave for our poor victim. It's the least she deserves after how her life ended, a quiet rest on a picturesque hill. We'll be sending her lots of company before long." With that, Grant left, the flap dropping down and casting shadow back over the tent.

Purolator fucking sucks.

Many of you know I bought a new power computer recently through Dell. I know Christmas is a shitty time of year to ship things, but I don't mind waiting. However, Purolator fucked up and told me that I could have had the package delivered to work. This was apparently impossible, and so I went to work while nobody was home. Had I been told the truth, Jason would have been able to camp at my place and wait. I have not had anyone from Purolator attempt to fix my problem. Never use them.

Here's a copy of the letter I sent to Purolator:
"This is not about a great idea I have had, but I feel I have to log my complaint again. The experience I have had shipping with Purolator has been the worst I have ever experienced. I understand that shipping in the winter weather around Christmas is sketchy. However, my experience has been detracted more by the ineptitude of Purolator customer service than the weather ever could.

Dell shipped me a computer and a display through your service. The expectation set to me by Dell was delivery by the 24th of December. I understand that the weather was not cooperative but I did receive my display on the 24th. Unfortunately, my computer itself was delayed until the 29th.

When I first called Purolator regarding my shipments I was informed they would arrive on the 23rd. They did not, and it appeared my two packages were split in transit. The display, according to the Purolator website, was placed on a truck for delivery on the 23rd. When I contacted Purolator support they informed me that the display would arrive by 5pm. At 6pm, I was informed the display would arrive by 8. It eventually arrived appx. 11 AM on the 24th.

My computer was placed on a truck for delivery around noon on the 24th, and Purolator support again promised delivery by 5pm. I called at 6pm and spoke to a guy named Kevin. He informed me that the package had been returned to the depot by the local courier and would not be delivered until the 29th. I explained to Kevin that I would be at work on the 29th and asked if the shipping address could be changed to my office. He informed me this was possible and that it would be delivered to my office.

However, when I called Purolator on the 29th to confirm, I was informed that this was not possible unless I contacted Dell first, but that the package could be delivered on the 30th. For me, this has presented an unacceptable situation, as the 30th is my last day before the holiday on the 1st. I am going on vacation after work and unlike the 29th, I am unable to make arrangements to have someone at my home to sign.

If I had been given the correct information on the 24th, I would have had someone at my house to sign for the package. However, because of the agent's incompetence, I am now stuck between having a very expensive computer returned to the USA, losing several hundred dollars worth of pay for missing time to receive the parcel, or skipping out on my planned and expensive vacation.

I eventually spoke to a manager named Diamenti who took ownership of the issue. Unfortunately, she was unable to get the driver to return to my location. Regardless, this experience has cost me hundreds of dollars of my time at work as well as days of my personal time. Aside from Diamenti's attempts to get things taken care of, not one person at Purolator went out of their way to make me feel like a valued customer or to convince me that they actually cared about my issue. I work in a telephone-based customer service industry and I understand the importance of providing excellent service. Certainly, having been on the receiving end of Purolator's support ineptitude will remind me of why it's important to be accurate every time.

If the reason for the failure to deliver was weather, mechanical, or even time-of-year related, I would not be so upset. I am a patient person, and I don't mind waiting. What I do mind is having my life inconvenienced by an error on Purolator's behalf. Except for when I spoke to a manager, there has been no attempt by Purolator to try and make things right for me, either with the time of mine that has been wasted waiting for a package or the money I have lost because one of Purolator's agents was wrong.

I can assure you I will never ship with Purolator again, nor will I recommend this company to my friends, family, acquaintances, or business associates. I also intend to post a copy of this correspondence online.

I would rather use Canada Post than risk my package based on the service I have received with this experience.

Thank you for your time today."

Fact: Why Christianity Clings to St. Nick

It's a question I have been wondering about for some time - why does Christianity with its prohibitions against the worship of false idols cling to the concept of Santa Claus? The capitalistic nature of St. Nick and the fat man's demand on our children to worship in his manner in order to receive rewards seems to be contrary to the demands and needs of the Christian religion. However, Christianity is not only content but compliant in the materialistic nature of one of their more holy days.

The original Santa Claus was St. Nicholas of Myra, a Greek figure who was famous for his gifts to the poor. This concept is in line with the way Christianity attempts to portray its religion. However, over time, Santa Claus has had dozens of influences, including Odin. The concept of flying horses (and then reindeer) came from Odin's eight-legged horse, Sleipnir. Sleipnir bore Odin about during Yule-time, and if children left food for Sleipnir, the horse would replace the food with candy and toys. Sounds familiar, yes?

The paganization of Christianity should come as no surprise to the educated. But Santa Claus, technically, is not Christianity. He is a canonized mortal combined with pagan deistic influences. Over the last 100 years he has become more and more linked to the increasingly materialistic nature of the Christmas holiday. But young Christian children are immersed in the myth of the magic Santa Claus more and more.

Why?

Because Santa Claus is a magical figure that provides tangible rewards for living a certain lifestyle. If you are a good boy or girl, you will get gifts from the old fat man. Believing in one magic man makes you more likely to believe in Jesus Christ and the entire concept of religion. When you accept Santa Claus at a young age and are duped into that child-like fantasy (as well as other such concepts as the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny), it makes the concept of an invisible man who will let you into a place of ultimate good upon death that much easier to accept.

Santa Claus should be taught as a concept or as a tradition. My parents weren't quite open about the legend with me as I would have liked, and I don't know if I want to do Santa with my children. I think it's dishonest and the last thing I want is for my children to believe that magical rewards for an obscure code of behaviour is the right way for someone to live their life.

Fiction: The Rise of the Lone Ranger, Chapter 1

"General Grant, General Grant has engaged at Chattanooga!" the messenger said as he rode along the line. The Union cavalry raised up their carbines and gave a shout as the man passed.

"Huzzah!" they called as one. The party of about sixty troopers watched the messenger continue to gallop. This group of cavalrymen weren't here to act as relief messengers. Instead, they were a patrol-in-force, covering the supply lines that were so vital to the Military Division of the Mississippi. It sounded now as if the long-awaited battle against Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee had finally been joined.

Sergeant Dan Reid was a section leader in the detached unit, which rode slowly towards the encampments at Chattanooga. They rode up and down the same five miles of road, four, five, six times a day, making sure none of the Rebel cavalry struck at the passing supply trains. The Confederate commander of cavalry in these regions was Nathan Bedford Forrest, and he was a wily son of a bitch.

Reid thought the same about his commander. Major Bartholomew Cavendish, from Bloody Kansas, led the unit. Reid himself was from Texas, originally, but his family was loyal to the Union in the mannerisms of Sam Houston. They had relocated to Detroit late in 1860, and when the war broke out, Dan needed little encouragement to join. His skills from the Texas frontier gave him the skills needed to make the Union Cavalry, and before long he found himself in the midst of General Ulysses S. Grant's armies marching down the Mississippi River.

Major Cavendish was a new addition to the troop. Their old commander had been promoted out of the unit and Cavendish had been brought over to lead. So far, Dan hadn't been impressed. Cavendish wasn't an educated man, and seemed to have obtained rank by ferocity and seemingly limitless courage. He'd gone on many Stuart-esque raids behind Rebel lines, raising Hell and fire wheresoever he'd ridden. Now he was Reid's commander.

Cavendish had that look in his eyes every time they passed the small village along the five mile-long patrol route. The village was a sleepy Tennessee one, a hundred people at the most. When the Union forces had ridden through, the major had noticed a young blonde woman with a waspish waistline. She must have seen the glint in his eyes as he took too long noticing her, and in the past two days they hadn't seen her. Reid, who always rode close to the major, was sure she was hiding. He didn't blame her.

Now that General Grant had started the battle, though, Reid had a feeling something ominous was going to happen. Forrest and his men were supposed to be gone, but that wasn't something Grant was prepared to take for granted. Somehow, though, Reid thought the trouble wouldn't come from Forrest's cavalry.

Cavendish was a handsome, smooth-shaven man of about twenty five. He had meticulously-kept, straight white teeth and eyes of an interesting light brown. However, those eyes contained maliciousness, and the hint of cruelty. Reid often felt they were the eyes of someone who bought expensive makeup for his wife to hide the bruises he left on her when he took her out to public events. The major never spoke of his home life, however, and Reid hadn't seen a wedding ring. But the thought fit.

Today, those eyes weren't roving about, like the eyes of the other veteran cavalrymen in the unit. Bartholomew Cavendish was a veteran, and had seen his share and probably more of shot and shell. Nobody doubted his courage. But today, his eyes were fixed on some far-off object, as if he had found a goal to strive for, and was visualizing it. His lips curled lightly from time to time, Dan noticed, in a grin that wasn't nearly as handsome as the face that bore it.

The second time the troop passed the village, Cavendish ordered a stop. "Hold up here, men. We'd best search the village. One can't tell where Johnny Reb might be hiding. If you see 'em, out 'em with your irons, and don't be afraid to shoot to kill."

Reid dismounted, and watched as most of the men fanned out into the village. The routine must have been familiar for the various people living here, Cavendish had given a similar order twice before. However, this time, Reid noticed as he looked into a barn, the major hung back, keeping a dozen or so of his closest soldiers around him. Some men had been drawn to Major Cavendish, the men Rein had already marked as petty and cruel. They had formed an informal inner circle of officer and enlisted.

Holding his Colt 1860 in one hand, Reid was searching a closet in a small house by the blacksmith's when the shots rang out. The small pops of a pistol firing were suddenly punctuated by the heavy slams from a rifle of some form. As he stepped out of the house, he could see those dozen or so men pointing their Sharps carbines at another home, further down the street. Cavendish was bleeding from the arm.

"Fire!" he called. The Sharps let go, and the wall around a window was filled with holes. The men reloaded the breech-loading weapons quickly, and fired another volley. After a few moments, the men broke down the door. Before long the sounds of pistols were again heard, then three dead civilians were drug out of the front door by Cavendish's men.

"Good job, Collins," Dan heard the major saying as he drew near. Other men were milling about in confusion, and Reid heard his own voice raising.

"Form ranks, form ranks dammit! You hold still 'til the Major gives orders! Fall in Simpson, fall in!" he bellowed. With the horses held outside of town, the hundred and twenty five men, or so, of the search party quickly formed into sections. During this time, Cavendish fished a field bandage out a pocket and wrapped it tightly about the slowly spreading dark spot on his arm. It was hard to tell when juxtaposed against the dark blue uniform tunic, but it was obvious by the red stain on the clean white cloth that the man had been shot.

Major Cavendish turned to look towards his men. "Collins, Jackson, Smith," he ordered. "Put these sorry bastards up by their necks on the nearest tree. Nobody shoots at a Union Major."

"Ol' Pa ain't shot at you!" one person called from a nearby home. Indeed, one of the men was old enough to be Dan Reid's grandfather. He looked about ninety, with a long, curled beard stained yellow by pipe smoke and red by blood. "He ain't able to even pick a gun up!"

Some civilians started moving back towards the road. Reid could feel a sense of urgency arising in the moment, as the three men moved to grab rope and make hasty nooses. Cavendish was grinning. "Get back in your homes, you Rebel bastards, or I'll hang you all up besides them. Rebellion against this army is not tolerated!"

"You're the bastard," called one voice, a much deeper voice. Reid watched as a few shutters were opened. People were leaning out, and even though all guns had been confiscated, he caught a glimpse of what looked like one or two old hunting rifles being held near open doors or windows.

Reid didn't know what the man's title was, but he was dressed in some form of suit, and he felt he was important enough to approach Cavendish. He moved slowly, aware of the predator's eyes upon him. "My son," he began. "Surely there is no need for further violence. The eyes of God are upon us all here, and you and I know that this small town has given no opposition prior to today to your army."

Aha, thought Reid. He's the town preacher.

"Surely you are a man of God, just as you are a man of the North, major?" the priest asked, after observing the gold oak leaf on Cavendish's shoulder. "Surely these men paid for their sins? Please, let us bury our friends, our family, and we will ensure such things never happen again."

Cavendish paused, looking at the men. Then, without responding, he shot the priest in the left eye, causing the left side of his head to blow out. The man crumpled without a sound, and a thousand things happened at once. Cavendish dove for cover behind a stout water trough as ten or fifteen hunting rifles or muskets shot from the surrounding buildings. Men in the cavalry troop cried out as they were hit. One or two crumpled, dead.

Reid moved fast, pulling his pistol again from its holster as he moved for cover. The sound of Sharps carbines rose as the cavalrymen shot back. Used to hitting small targets from horseback, the older men and young boys determined to fight for the town provided little sport for the experienced troopers, and the upstart villagers with guns fell quickly, toppling out of doors and falling through windows as they were picked off.

It didn't stop, however. Cavendish got up and started shooting at random, bullets smacking into whatever flesh it could find. Collins grabbed a lantern and smashed it into a house, a fire leaping over the spilt kerosene quicker than Reid could imagine.

"Kill them! Kill all of them!" someone shouted. Reid was horrified.

"No!" he yelled, as he slid his carbine over his shoulder. A few men hung back, five or six, and could only watch as the wooden buildings were set fire to. Some ran out before the flames got too bad, only to be shot down by the troopers. Others found themselves being gutted by knives or beaten by rifle butts. When people came out on fire, the troopers got out of the way, watching them scream and cry before falling in crumpled burnt heaps.

The few times an attractive, or mostly attractive woman, emerged, though, she was grabbed and forced into the muddy ground, held down by three or four men as others took their turns between her thighs. That was the worst, and Reid clutched the grip of his pistol. The third time it happened, he resolved to break it up, but found he had emptied his gun in the shootout earlier, and that his hands were shaking too much to put ball and cap together in the chamber.

Then the blonde came out of one of the burning homes. The men grabbed at her eagerly, but Cavendish's voice rose over the din. "This one's mine, boys!" And, to the horror of Dan Reid, the men cheered as the tall, handsome officer from Kansas grabbed a handful of hair from a girl no more than seventeen, dragging her away from the flames and towards the woods.

Some of the men who had hung back were gone. Dan never saw two of them again, and he can only assume they wandered off, deserting. The other three decided that it'd be best to check on the horses, leaving Reid to watch the carnage for a few more minutes. After it was over, after there were no more bodies to watch burn and no more men left to take their turn with the half-dozen or so women, Reid watched as the nude, raped, battered and bloody women were rounded up by the troopers.

The trooper named Jackson appeared. "Can't let 'em squeal, boys." He tossed some rope around to some of the men. "String the bitches up." The women didn't cry. They didn't protest. They simply watched with deadened eyes, and Reid forced himself to watch too as the troopers hastily hanged all six women, before lighting the tree on fire as well.

Cavendish was still gone. His minions began to round up the soldiers, making sure everything that could be fired was fired, but the major didn't return yet. Reid shifted lightly and then moved away from the burning village. The smoke had made his face black, a black that was punctuated by tears that had dripped down over his face from the acrid air. His crisp uniform was muddy and soaked in sweat and, certainly, other things. Not quite sure where Cavendish had gone, Reid moved into the woods, having decided that the major ought not to come out alive, at least.

As he was moving through the trees, holding his cavalryman's sword since he was still unable to load his pistol with his treacherous, trembling hands, he heard from ahead the sound of someone clumsily pushing through the brush. It was Smith, another of Cavendish's collaborators. He seemed to know where he was going, and so Reid followed, moving carefully and silently.

The man lead Reid to a clearing, and indeed, here the poor blonde was. She had been thoroughly raped, blood trickling down over her thighs, and was tied to a tree. The sadistic Cavendish was in the middle of buttoning up his uniform tunic. With widened eyes, Reid realized that the woman had been cut several times, bitten brutally, and savagely beaten and choked as well.

"'ad your fun, Major?" Smith asked, as he gave a single contemptuous glance to the bound woman, before looking back to Cavendish.

The major smirked. "Why, so I have. Bitch tried to bite me, too, so now she won't bite a thing again," he said. "Are the men done with the village?"

"Yessir," Smith replied.

"Any problems from the men?"

"A few hung back, but I reckon they can be dealt with."

"Which ones?"

"Uhrm..." Smith said. "There was Prenell, Tom O'Reilly, Wilkson, and Reid what I saw."

"Good enough. Find out if they intend to say anything. If they do, they'll have to have an unfortunate accident."

"'course, Major. Accidents happen all the time, what it being war an' all."

"Indeed."

"Was it the fun worth all the trouble, then, sir?" Smith asked.

Major Cavendish grinned. "Absolutely, Smith. It'll even be worth the scar on the arm. Good work, there, by the way. You hit it just enough to make it bleed bad, but I expect it'll work fine to get along with. Now, get back to the horses. I'll be along shortly. I've some things to finish here."

Smith didn't move, though, as Cavendish turned. He swung out his pistol, the same one that had killed the preacher, and shot the girl in the belly. Then he moved and patted her cheek lightly. "Good night, sweetheart," he said, before vanishing into the woods, Smith following at the man's spurs.

Reid had been frozen, but once Cavendish's footfalls vanished, he moved from the clearing. The woman hung, limply, but raised her head. Blood spilled from her mouth as she tried to talk. Reid moved fast, cutting the ropes that bound her. She collapsed to the foot of the tree, and he knelt.

"Shh," he said. "I'm going to get you out of here." She tried to curl up, but he grasped her, as he fumbled with a bandage. She didn't move after his grip tightened, and he found himself looking into strangely hollow eyes.

"Y'all a Union butcher too," she said, ever so softly. Reid froze, watching as the beaten and mortally wounded girl suddenly and silently died. For a moment, the Union sergeant was quiet and still. He pondered a prayer for the girl, but decided that it was already too late for such niceties. He also pondered a burial. But in the end, the poor nameless victim of Bartholomew Cavendish had another job to do. She was the only victim who's beaten body had survived untouched by fire.

Cavendish had placed a kit of tools in the clearing some time before, clearly as he planned the whole assault for the purpose of finding the young girl and doing as he pleased. In there, Reid found a blanket. He wrapped the corpse up in the blanket.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him. I'm not a butcher," he murmured. "But he is." Reid left the body there, wrapped up, and stepped out of the woods. Sliding away his sword, he eventually found the men mounting up. Some were quiet, others were jubilant. Most had a thoughtful look in their eyes. Regardless, they rode away from the smouldering buildings, leaving the dead to burn.

Fact: Remembrance Day

Canada is a nation that has not fought so it may be free. The Kaiser would never have taken Montreal; Hitler's SS never would have reached Ottawa. Canada is a nation that has fought so others may be free. Our democracy was not at risk, but others were, and that's what 100,000 Canadians fell for - for the Belgians, the Dutch, the French, the Danes. The English and the Italians and indeed the Germans. For the Koreans and the Bosnians and Serbs and Croats, for the many Afghani men and especially women who were oppressed.

That is what we fought for, so that all the world might have the same freedoms we enjoy.

We will remember them.

Fact: Do not buy an HP computer.

I realize that the concept of blogging about disapproving phone support or tech support is rather cliché and probably shouldn't be done, but hey. Who gives a flying fuck. I sure don't.

Against my advice, my parents bought an HP Pavillion Notebook for my younger sister to take to university with her. I had recommended a Mac, as she is going into music and quite frankly, Macs are infinitely better than PCs are for music work. But, my advice was disregarded.

So, about 2 weeks ago, I get a call from her in absolute tears. Lauren's computer won't turn on. I check and see if it's plugged in, battery's in, etc. It all is. So, I tell her I'll come take a look at it. I get there and promptly remove the battery, drain excess charge, that sort of thing. No dice. I check the hard-drive. It's connected. I check the RAM. I reseed and swap slots. No change. I pull a RAM chip - nothing. I pull the other, putting the first in the same slot. Magic, it boots.

Okay, no problem. All I need is a piece of 1gb SO-DIMM PC2-5300. HP'll prolly just send one out, charge and refund a credit card. We can do that! So I call up HP. I'm a techy guy, I know what's going on. The conversation goes something like this.

Me: Hey HP. I need a new gig of RAM for my sister's computer. It won't boot unless the RAM chip is pulled. Okay?
HP: Sure thing. Got a credit card?
Me: Nah, I'll have her call with mom's. I'm broke as fuck.
HP: Cool.

Okay. That's interaction one.

Lauren gets mom's CC info and calls up to set up the repair. The agent speaks to her for ONE AND A HALF HOURS, having her remove the hard drive, reseed the RAM, do the hokey-pokey, who the fuck knows. Suffice to say, she had a very inexperienced 18 year old girl pulling her computer apart. Adding on to this, the agent didn't have Lauren take the basic steps. For instance, when I was working on her computer, I made sure to ground myself every minute or so. The agent didn't inform Lauren of the dangers of static discharge inside a computer.

Then, the agent told Lauren that she'd have to send the whole computer in. Of course, we had already been told we could be sent the RAM we needed in the mail. Lauren asked to speak to a supervisor. The agent then put Lauren on hold for TWO MORE HOURS, listening to HP's atrocious hold "music" (see below), without coming back to check on her or let her know what the wait will be.

She messages me from her currently-working computer in tears (again), because basically this agent has fucked off and taken a 2 hour lunch at her expense. I agree to go ahead and get in touch with HP. I start by calling up and using their chat option. The chat option took about 10 minutes to get through. The agent was unsure of her English, and took an extremely long time (about 6-7 minutes) to respond to my basic questions, like, "So, can you send me this part or not?". I wasn't pleased.

Then, there was waiting on the goddamn phone.

I waited for about 45 minutes to get through. Okay. I'm patient, I can wait as needed. But the hold "music"...oh boy. I have never heard anything so annoying in my goddamn life. It had these soft, supposedly smoothing tones playing in the background, all very digital, like a hippie playing a keyboard. Then there was a woman speaking over it. Constantly, advertising various HP products, explaining the website option (which I was doing simultaneously), directing me to online search, all while I slowly seeth and grow more angry.

Now, to add onto this, the piece was cut by a retard. The various segments the woman was speaking through were chopped together at random. It looped, so after the third loop I got to notice the points. Generally, the music stopped for a second too, giving you that hope that someone was picking up. Now, get this, the woman misspoke in the middle of the recording. But instead of just doing another take, they kept her error, her cough, AND the part where she said "excuse me". WHY THE FUCK WOULDN'T YOU JUST DO ANOTHER GODDAMN TAKE! IS HP THAT FUCKING IDIODIC?!

Well, they sure are. I spoke to a fellow named Vincent, who was actually quite nice. He tried everything he could to get this taken care of. I explained the troubleshooting steps I had taken. He agreed that it was probably the RAM chip. He looked into it and told me what Lauren had been told - HP does not ship out RAM chips for this model. I politely asked if he could look into another option, which he did. This guy was great, he kept updating me as to what was going on. He escalated the case to a case manager, who called Lauren back and apologized and explained that HP does not send out parts for the model. He promised her the turnaround time for a mail-in repair was 3-4 days.

Okay. So I'm still upset, because there's no damn reason to go through all this for a three inch long chip. Hell, the fucking shipping alone is worth more than the damn RAM. But, she sent it in. Lo-and-behold, HP calls her back, saying they can't find anything wrong with it. Why? They said the RAM looked fine. Lauren asked if it would boot, and they said, "Well, no. The cause hasn't been determined." She asked if they had swapped out the RAM. They said no. Sounded like a load of BS to her.

Then - get this - afterwards, they said that, "Even if it is RAM, we can't replace it here. We'll ship the model back to you with a note for HP. Then HP can send you the part."

...

...so, they will send us the part, which is what we wanted in the first place, only after their random repair "experts" can determine that it's a part needed? Why can't they get the part in? Why doesn't a computer repair depot have the most common RAM in the world lying around? WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST SEND US THE RAM IN THE FIRST PLACE?!

This whole process is retarded, and the run-around has totally lost HP both myself and my sister as customers. I really recommend to you that you avoid HP like the plague. I am not telling you to buy a Mac, but look into Dell, or Toshiba, or Compaq, or someone other than Hewlett-Packard.

HP blows goats.

Fact: I agree with Colin Powell

It might be a little too late to say this, but I want to just talk about what General Colin Powell said on Meet the Press a few days ago. General Powell expressed the thought that judging someone by their religion was bad. Fareed Zakaria replayed the General's comments on GPS today. And it was poignant:

I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards--Purple Heart, Bronze Star--showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way.

I think we can all learn something from these words.