Baumblog EST 1968 - A blog for the Baumbachs who originated in Syracuse, NY

UNCOMFORTABLE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ATTACK: Was it an inside job?

1) Why were a handful of rebel fighters able to penetrate the defenses of a battle station that had the capability of destroying an entire planet and the defenses to ward off several fleets of battle ships?

2) Why did Grand Moff Tarkin refuse to deploy the station’s large fleet of TIE Fighters until it was too late? Was he acting on orders from somebody to not shoot down the rebel attack force? If so, who, and why?

3) Why was the rebel pilot who supposedly destroyed the Death Star reported to be on the Death Star days, maybe hours, prior to its destruction? Why was he allowed to escape, and why were several individuals dressed in Stormtrooper uniforms seen helping him?

4) Why has there not been an investigation into allegations that Darth Vader, the second-ranking member of the Imperial Government, is in fact the father of the pilot who allegedly destroyed the Death Star?

5) Why did Lord Vader decide to break all protocols and personally pilot a lightly armored TIE Fighter? Conveniently, this placed Lord Vader outside of the Death Star when it was destroyed, where he was also conveniently able to escape from a large-sized rebel fleet that had just routed the Imperial forces. Why would Lord Vader, one of the highest ranking members of the Imperial Government, suddenly decide to fly away from the Death Star in the middle of a battle? Did he know something that the rest of the Imperial Navy didn’t?

6) How could any pilot shoot a missile into a 2 meter-wide exhaust port, let alone a pilot with no formal training, whose only claim to fame was his ability to “bullseye womprats” on Tatooine? This shot, according to one pilot, would be “impossible, even for a computer.” Yet, according to additional evidence, the pilot who allegedly fired the missile turned off his targeting computer when he was supposedly firing the shot that destroyed the Death Star. Why have these discrepancies never been investigated, let alone explained?

7) Why has their been no investigation into evidence that the droids who provided the rebels with the Death Star plans were once owned by none other than Lord Vader himself, and were found, conveniently, by the pilot who destroyed the Death Star, and who is also believed to be Lord Vader’s son? Evidence also shows that the droids were brought to one Ben Kenobi, who, records indicate, was Darth Vader’s teacher many years earlier! Are all these personal connections between the conspirators and a key figure in the Imperial government supposed to be coincidences?

8) How could a single missile destroy a battle station the size of a moon? No records, anywhere, show that any battle station or capital ship has ever been destroyed by a single missile. Furthermore, analysis of the tape of the last moments of the Death Star show numerous small explosions along its surface, prior to it exploding completely! Why does all evidence indicate that strategically placed explosives, not a single missile, is what destroyed the Death Star?

GJ said 2 minutes later

Btw, if you hadn't guessed, this is a dig on those Loose Change knuckleheads and the 9/11 "truthers," who are busy defending their "theories" about how steel is hard to melt with this bridge collapse in California due to a tanker fire.
Abby said about 13 hours later

Funny. =D

And steel is a type of metal- it melts. How hard is that for people to understand?
GJ said about 16 hours later

Yes, they forget that steel gets melted all the time in steel mills, and before that, blacksmiths used to melt it to forge tools by hand over a COAL fire. Heck, in these accidents, you don't even have to melt the steel--you simply need to heat it enough to force it to lose it's structural strength partially--under load, it can then suffer a cascading failure. Of course, it's just another fringe group.

There are plenty of others out there. Alien-abduction believers, for one.
Geoff said about 17 hours later

Aliens are real...:)
Abby said about 24 hours later

Aliens are so definitely real.

But they don't abduct humans- they just observe us and now they're waiting for us to make the next move into... hyperspace! xD
GJ said 1 day later

Proof, people. Aliens may exist, but current logical assumptions seem to dictate that even if they did, they are not aware of us nor are visiting us so far, just as we are not aware of them. If you'd like, I'll write up a post that explains this line of thinking.
Steve said 1 day later

I don't know what you're talking about GJ. I saw a UFO in the front yard when I was a kid. I remember it vividly. That was about 3 seconds before they abducted me. Explains a lot....
Abby said 1 day later

Who says we need proof?

Aliens exist, and that's that. xD
GJ said 1 day later

Hey, I'm warning you people! You don't want to see another long winded rant from GJ, do ya?
Geoff said 1 day later

Bring it Alien boy! If you're lucky, maybe they'll abduct you....although something tells me they already have. :P
Marc said 1 day later

It's kinda funny, if nobody disagrees even the slightest bit in the comment threads, we move onto aliens. Predictably hilarious.

And yes, aliens exist.
Geoff said 1 day later

You see, the aliens are already taking over. They have dominated our blogging, captured our movie watching experience, exploited the conspiracy theorists, and built the pyramids!

They must have inflitrated our cow farms and poisioned the milk!

Steve said 30 minutes later

I think you're stuck. While you don't have to comply with their request to match their price, they also don't need to sell you the bags for any less than they list on their website, unless you had an agreement with them before hand. You might advise them of the other company that's selling the stuff on ebay, and mention that you don't think it's fair that you have to comply but they don't.

Even if you did have an agreement with them on price beforehand, they may find ways around the agreement, or just not be very supportive in providing product to you. Since they are you're only source of product, you are very limited in what you can get away with. They have quite a bit of control over you, unfortunately.

Have you gals given any thought to increasing the range of products that you resell? Relying on just one source for all of your income is very risky, as if anything goes wrong with the source, you're out of business.

GJ said about 9 hours later

Steve's spot on, Kristen. There is nothing that can be done from a legal perspective--they aren't violating any laws. It's totally the rules of supply and demand.

Absolutely, positively inform the manufacturer of anyone who appears to be violating their selling rule. Remember, though, that you're not in that line of business, so don't spend your time on finding rule violators.

Now, of course, selling at the same price as the manufacturer is going to dent your sales. If they have a slicker site (and they almost certainly have more media exposure than your company), a price differential was the only thing keeping your sales going. What can you do now? Simple--you must add value for the customer. Previously, you added value by reducing their cost, but that's not the only way to add value.

Adding value:

1. Like Steve said, offer other things for sale--but be sure those things are complementary to your main sale items. Either find good accessories to sell, or expand your business to sell other "interesting" purses. You still want that to be a hallmark of your business, I assume.
2. Offer some kind of freebie or reduced price item along with the purses--this, to the consumer, makes the purse appear lower in price, even though you are keeping with your supply company's restrictions. The idea here is use the gap in price that you used to have to put towards this freebie or reduced price thingamabob.