It isn't often that I ask something of you, the HDF reader. This is partially because I feel guilty enough for not updating this site enough, and largely because I get squeamish in asking anything else of anyone reading this (other than that West Wing idea!) other than to keep checking this site every once in awhile. Sure, it doesn't really offer anything other than linked news stories and the occasional story about my cat, but then seriously, you're probably at work and bored, so I can only hope to help fill that void. I don't send forwards, and I'm not on Facebook, so really this is my only web presence, and I'm happy with that. I don't feel bad about whingeing on about my own lefty idealistic dogeared beliefs, because, because hey, you came here. But I -hey, where are you going? Please come back, I didn't mean that. Stick around for a minute, I'm getting to the point, I was just trying to talk about something here.

Okay.

Anyway, I'm always impressed with m friends, who are in fact the best people in the world (now that Paul Newman is dead). My friends are industrious and creative and fun and, well, people I'm proud to be friends with. There isn't a one who doesn't impress me semi regularly, and I mean that with the utmost sincerity. Y'all make me look like a coma victim.

And then there's Neil, who's putting together another documentary, this one about United States bombing campaigns from the people who make the decisions to drop them to the people they hit (intentional or not) and the way it affects our national conscious as a whole. It's solemn work, and it deserves our attention whether we want to think about it or not. Just because last month we made it illegal to sell cluster bombs doesn't mean that we made it illegal to use them or (shudder) just give them to Israel. and not even counting those godawful things, think of these weapons, these awesome (not in the good way) munitions, which we drop from several tens of thousands of feet up in the air into very much populated areas. I can't spit 4 stories in a closed stairwell* and hit the ground, and there's not even wind in there. Sure, my spit isn't laser-guided, but then how laser-guided was that bomb that blew up a wedding in Afghanistan (oh wait which one?) or the thousands of other accidents we've had? You can chalk it up to being the costs of war, but it's a bullshit war and it's a bullshit write off. If our taxpayer dollars are responsible for killing this many people by accident, we should damn sure be thinking about it.
But I'm getting off track, and I'm talking about things I don't know about, and the only way I'm gonna get my shit straight is by watching the movie when it comes out. and that's where Neil comes in.
The thing about Neil, though he'd probably deny this, is that he's one of the most decent people I know. Seriously, he resides in the uppermost strata of decent (heretofore referred to as the Carmody/Halloran barrier) of all the people I know, which is remarkable. At which I have to stop and wonder "why do these people even know a bastard like me?". I could never imagine working on a project like this and coming out the other end with my humanity intact. I just don't have that in me, and I'm certain if I could utilize my ape mind to slap together a film, it would not only be terrible and more than likely feature of accidentally inserted scene of me drunk and crying a la Martin Sheen in Hearts of Darkness, but it would also have no point. and that's one of the myriad of reasons why I can't make films. But I get the feeling that in addition to Neil's spirit remaining, and in addition to him continuing to be Neil, I'm pretty sure that after watching this film I will say to myself "Holy shit, there's something I can do", which is pretty rare if you know me at all. And I'm looking forward to having that feeling, but in the meantime, what I can do is tell you about it.

So please do me a favor. Go check out OurBombs.com. Watch the trailer. Look at the Air Strike Tracker. If you know someone you think might be interested in it, tell them about it. I promise I won't ask anything else of you until the movie comes out (you know I mean it!), but in the meantime, it's not going to take up too much of your time, and you're going to learn something, and you're going to help out my friend Neil. Tell you what, you go check this out and I won't post any more pictures of my cat**. That's win-win! Anyway, thanks for listening.


*this writer performed these tests in a controlled environment with no person in any danger of being hit. No humans or animals were harmed or humiliated in the tests. I messed some plants up pretty bad, though.
**This is not a guarantee.