These fifteen thousand pound daisy-cutter bombs being dropped in the highlands around Tora Bora are a bit sobering. Let's see - that 7.5 kilotons. Now recall from your history classes that the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 25 kiloton TNT equivalents. Also (though they probably didn't cover it in your history class) the United States has spent vast research sums coming up with more effective conventional explosives that leave TNT in the dust (so to speak...). In any event; one of these daisy-cutters is at least around 1/3 the force of an atomic bomb but without the radiation. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Tora Bora isn't being considered a candidate for a neutron bomb. Simple logic - these caves are just too deep and complex for much of anything besides bayonet warfare. Just pull back and make the ground glow with unstable molecules. We can't go in, but they can't come out. Ever. Fence it off and go home.

Ya' think by now we've heard all of the 83 Americans who can sing the national anthem flawlessly?

This latest Osama tape is causing more questions than answers I'm afraid. The white house has had it for almost two weeks now. It reminds me of Ollie North and former president Reagan needing a couple of weeks to create a history of events over the Iran-contra affair. Not document or polish it, but create it. I'm also worried that this is apparently "the strongest evidence yet against Osama bin Laden". I thought we already possessed undeniable solid evidence. Real evidence that would stand up in court, not hearsay evidence of yet another group claiming responsibility. Then there are the circumstances which led to this tape being found in some Afghan house. You mean to tell me that our special forces are going into abandoned homes and watching all the videos? This whole thing has the stench of monkey business around it, and I'm afraid I don't trust anything that is concluded as a result. It's too bad because it might be the only linkage to Osama, rather than a bunch of fuzzy meetings in Europe between terrorists and various terrorist agencies; where there is no record of what was actually said.

As far as actual work, suppose I've mentioned that I'm spending most days at the shop, watching, learning, and helping out where I can. Today I ordered a walk-by sign - as there is nothing at street level saying what the store is. Just as with my house; where I sat in every room for weeks/months and asked what could be done to make it better (and then made it happen) - so shall I do here.

But the big lesson isn't the mechanics of doing retail. It's collecting the combined wisdom of a father/son team that has or have been running this shop since 1956. What made many of the competitors fail. Why they stick with certain brands that aren't mainstream (quality and value and pure profit). What they did to survive through a bunch of economic cycles. And I can't leave out the entire social music network these guys are at the center of. As I learned from other past lives "It's the community, stupid".