A 7yo boy was kidnapped from someplace in Oregon.  It's received the kind of coverage parents can only get when their missing child is cute enough to imply profitability to network news directors.  During a one-year period studied by the DOJ (stat via missingkids.org), an average of 2,185 children were reported missing each day.  Paring the news coverage down to the occassional poster child makes the subject more manageable, but it also gives the illusion that kidnapping is a rare occurrence.

According to the latest ad for Kings Island amusement park, riding their roller coaster makes you a "ride warrior".  I guess we can add it to the list with "road warrior" and "war on poverty".  It's standard identity advertising -- that is, making people want something because they want to think of themselves as the kind of person who wants that thing.  It's ridiculous, and it sells.  There's a reason that the "warrior" image can sell Americans on just about anything these days, and it's a symptom of a real problem with some pretty terrifying results.

Martial arts has always been an important part of my life...in theory.  In fact, the only thing more challenging that martial arts study, is trying to maintain some sort of coherent study while moving 11 times in 10 years (assuming you count temporary moves).  Apart from some periods of exceptionally poor health, I've always studied something, but the something has changed many times based on local availability.  Due to the irregularity of my study, and probably at least somewhat owing to my irrational hang-ups about sparring, my martial arts background is about a mile wide and a half-inch deep.

Today's mail brought a very nice card from my son's and my old Sensei and his wife asking how we've been since we moved, and whether we'd found a new place to study karate. I wrote a short letter in return, letting them know that our new city is treating us well, that we found a great new dojo (which I'll post more about later), and mentioning my son's new found diligence in practicing each day.

My son drew a picture for Sensei's wife (a great lady who also helps with karate classes). I asked whether he'd drawn one for Sensei, too. He said "No, Senseis don't want pictures. Sensei will like this," handing me a second piece of paper. It read: